Operator
by Case13
Summary: After years as ANBU officer Mugen, Naruto must remove his mask to work alongside the man who cost him a teammate and a half to save Uchiha Sasuke from himself.
1. Chapter 1

This is a Naruto-as-ANBU fic - but if you're expecting Naruto 'learning how to be human', 'regaining humanity' and other such things, then you can stop now. In this fic, Naruto is a proffesional with blood on his hands, but he's no emotionless killing machine. Nor does he angst over the people he had killed very much. He isn't some kind of invincible juggernaut either. And after three years in ANBU and some traumatising experiences beforehand, he isn't the happy-go-lucky loud midget. Time in ANBU hardened and changed him. And not for the better in some cases. Also this is not a fic for Kakashi fans. Just a warning.

ooo

Operator

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Sad, I know.

ooo

Prologue

"...Sword when required."

ooo

"We are not normal. We don't DO normal, either"  
- Konoha ANBU Operations Team 4 (un)official motto

ooo

The small touch was enough to bring him back to the land of the living. He was a rather heavy sleeper, but with his mind and body in full combat mode, sleep - if you might call it that - was light. It was more akin to a quick, rejuvenating meditation than anything else.

He turned to the hand that shook him awake, meeting a black ANBU uniform and stylized cat mask.

Fingers moved quickly in ANBU battle-speak, the crisp and clear signing of a veteran, barely recognizable from the small twitches.

He nodded, throwing a quick look behind at the smaller figure in a blank white mask.

Cat mask only made a decisive cut with her hand.

He turned to the blank-masked one, who was making the exaggerated battle gestures taught to most chuunin, instead of quick ANBU-speak.

The girl tensed, reading the message, and shook her head furiously.

He repeated the message, this time ending it with a clear cut form, almost insulting in its exaggerated manner.

Order.

Comply.

NOW.

The girl settled down, still tense.

He almost sighed.

It was picture perfect rookie behavior, complete with a put-out pose that almost screamed, 'I'm ANBU too, you know!'

Sheesh.

Was he ever like that? He couldn't remember.

There was a quick rustle as the cat masked ANBU vanished with a quick Shunshin. There were no leaves, of course. No need to distract anybody, and it might give you away. Standard ANBU pattern.

He made the seal, losing himself in a rapid torrent of movement.

Shunshin was, despite many misconceptions, not a 'teleport' of any kind. It was just a mind-boggling fast burst of speed, allowing you to move at speeds faster than the normal eye could follow for a very short duration.

Shunshin was a deceptively simple technique to learn, and a hard one to master. It also had several glaring limitations. The discharge of chakra made it possible for a halfway-decent opponent to estimate your direction, you could only move in straight line, you needed to see exactly where you were going... And crashing into something at that speed?

Not advisable.

It was also increditably hard on the body, which was why even most hardened jounin used it sparingly. Once, during the jounin selection exams, he'd seen an idiot chuunin with more endurance than brains use it several times in a row. By the fifth attempt, he had blood gushing out of his eyes, ears, and nose, and his legs were mangled beyond belief. He later learned that the jounin wannabe also had several cases of internal bleeding as his organs had ruptured from the strain. Poor fucker died shortly afterward. Even the medic-nin were helpless when the injuries were so violently infused with chakra.

Genin didn't know this, but they were taught the first stages of the Shunshin when they learned Kawarimi, one of the most basic techniques. Of course, Kawarimi was slow, the seals were completely different, and the chakra molding differed in the final application, but the basic theory remained the same. And the two skills had some similar limitations. Each genin in Academy got one very serious warning after learning Kawarimi: to never - EVER - use it more than twice in a row. Every year, some idiot genin-wannabe did. Every year that idiot ended up crippled from the strain. The symptoms were glaringly similar (though the ones from Kawarimi were less extreme) to anyone who had seen them both and had half a brain to figure it out.

Once he understood that, well... Kawarimi suddenly became his favorite technique, bar none. Learning a cool jutsu that made running child's play? It was simply too much of an opportunity for the jutsu-starved mind of a prankster like him.

Not to say that coaxing Shunshin out of Kawarimi had been EASY - especially when he didn't know the seals - but he managed. It took a reasonably talented jounin about six months to learn the proper Shunshin. It took years to use it with just one seal, as some elite jounin were so fond of doing.

He had his down in two.

He was probably the only shinobi in history to learn Shunshin via brute force.

The wonders of Kyuubi-given regeneration were not to be overestimated.

The very next day, the Hokage had ordered him to perform the rudimentary Shunshin in front of Iruka.

Five times.

He graduated from the Academy that day.

The memory of the look in the eyes of the uneasy chuunin instructors as he took his hitai-ate and walked out without a second glance still warmed his heart to this day.

He had been nine years old.

Barely a year later, he was on a C class mission that had suddenly gone straight to hell. Enemy ANBU were fleeing, Konoha ANBU chased them, ninja on both sides were dying in gory ways, and a set of hapless genin were stuck in the middle. He used a full-scale Shunshin three times in a row out of sheer desperation.

The very moment he returned from the mission, he was recruited to ANBU Ops Team 4.

Sometimes, life was full of irony.

He had been ten years old - the fifth youngest ANBU in history of the corps, and the third to become one as a genin.

The first was the unquestioned master of the Shunshin, and later, the Hiraishin: Konoha's Yellow Flash, Kazama Arashi, who became the Yondaime Hokage. Reputedly the strongest ninja to ever live. Man who sealed the Kyuubi no Youko in the belly of Uzumaki Naruto.

Irony.

He shook his head.

Wool-gathering in the middle of a dangerous speed technique? He really should have known better.

He made another seal, and let himself be carried by the Shunshin.

ooo

It took barely three seconds and one word to turn a meticulously planned op into a fucking mess. 

Ironically, it wasn't even the rookie - their rookie, that is.

He knew, just KNEW, that working with Hunter-nin on this was a mistake.

For all their skill and dedication, despite the fact they were still ANBU, the Hunter-nin saw themselves as a breed apart - the elite of the elite. That was bullshit in Naruto's mind, since - given the nature of their missions - ANBU Operations and Assassination Teams were the strongest in terms of ability and raw power. He personally thought it was due to the whole 'we hunt the big, bad missing-nin, hear us roar' attitude.

As much as the Operations Division got the self important, sun-blinded morons who thought they were the second Hatake Kakashi just because they made it to Ops, the Hunter rookies were much, much worse.

It really should have been no surprise when the Hunter-nin-in-training went for glory and big bucks.

He got a kunai through his heart instead.

And boy, was he lucky. With what happened in the next few minutes, Naruto would have torn him apart with his bare hands. Slowly. While kicking jagged glass up his rectum with Konoha Senpuu.

And he was sure that he would have had to wait until after his team was through with the dumb fuck.

ooo

There was a small village between Cloud and Snow country called Hidden Rainbow.

It was, obviously, a ninja village, but aside from some good genjutsu users who called it home, there was nothing really remarkable about it. It was a Kage-less village like many others, until Kumogakure decided that they didn't like it all that much.

However, on that day, Hidden Rainbow gained one single reason for fame.

Or, rather, infamy.

Hajime Kouran - former jounin, former ANBU captain known as the Lion, missing-nin, mercenary, and psycho who slaughtered Assassination Teams single-handedly for kicks - came to defend his village.

It took seven elite jounin to slow him down, another six to stop him. And until the Raikage came to break the stalemate, Kouran was swatting down top-ranked Kumo ninja like flies. Multiple top-ranked Kumo ninja. At the same time. And was laughing while doing it.

Kouran escaped after the Raikage overpowered him, wandering where his fortune took him, routinely slaughtering the Hunter-nin Kumo sent after him with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.

That day, he did the same to some poor bastards of the Konoha Hunter-nin corps.

It was a mistake caused by failed intelligence. There weren't supposed to any ninja of Kouran's ability in the vicinity, save for a few chuunin-level nuke-nin who preyed on the merchants using this route. Hunter-nin were to eliminate the Konoha-nin, Team 4 was to eliminate the rest and pin down a slime of a genjutsu user who had gotten his grubby hands on some data that Konoha Intelligence got a hard-on just thinking about. And since dealing with genjutsu had become a sort of specialty of theirs, Team 4 was a natural choice.

Apparently, Kouran was as enamored with the data as Konoha Intelligence. Which was lucky, because he didn't waste time on small fries; he just smacked them around.

That was still enough to leave them all battered and broken, and the acting captain opted to retreat IMMEDIATELY.

The idiot Hunter-nin that stayed to capture Kouran didn't have so much luck.

Kouran really didn't like Hunter-nin. Making them die was sort of a pastime of his, and he liked to indulge.

Then Kagehoushi had arrived, and the mission REALLY went to hell.

ooo

He groaned. The migraine was fierce enough to make the light shining cheerfully through the window make him nearly puke his guts out on the immaculately clean floor of the ANBU infirmary.

He was still sore all over, weak, and everything in his body felt... brittle, for lack of a better expression.

Which meant something had beat him to the brink of death, because only full-body regeneration via the ol' fox-youki made him feel THIS shitty.

Joy.

'Oh god... What hit me?' He moaned, closing his eyes again - which didn't help when pipe smoke, heavy with a touch of cinnamon, hit his nose. He knew that pipe smoke almost too well.

Migraine, vertigo, pain, numbness, and to top it all off, Sarutobi the Sandaime Hokage with his lectures about 'will of fire', 'friendship', 'giving them a chance', 'vacancies on genin teams', and other assorted 'normal life' crap. His life was officially hell.

He brought his arm up to shield his eyes, and stiffened.

His mask was gone.

Not the hard mask of the ANBU commissioned officer, but the cloth mask he had used ever since becoming an ANBU. It used to be an undermesh for the hard mask, since the standard ANBU mask was a little too big for a ten year old, but even in ANBU, some people reacted better to "Mugen" than they did to Uzumaki Naruto. And it was good not having to deal with disdainful shopkeepers, who turned almost disgustingly helpful upon seeing the ANBU gear and the mask.

And now he was without it.

'Shit.'

Disregarding the vertigo, he slid out of bed, wincing as the raw migraine, agitated from the movement, hit him with increased ferocity. He swallowed the bile that rose in his throat, using the bed to steady himself. He rubbed his eyes quickly, trying to get rid of his blurred vision. He knew from experience that shaking his head would only make the migraine that much more potent.

It wasn't exactly the first time he had landed with such injuries during his three year old tour of duty with the Operations Division.

He took several deep breaths, trying to settle his stomach.

Rapid regeneration was a lifesaver, but he always felt like crap afterward; it left his body weak and exhausted for days on end.

'Speaking of exhaustion,' he grimaced, feeling his unsteady legs shaking.

Usually, healing left him only exhausted and voraciously hungry, but Kyuubi-style rapid regeneration ravaged his reserves and messed up his chakra coils something fierce. The jolts of pain and occasional muscle spasms were a bitch, but the migraine and weakness were the worst.

No matter how you looked at it, demon chakra wasn't very compatible with the human body. Even if it granted some interesting abilities, the price was usually very high. And painful. Still, if it meant surviving, he would pay it gladly.

Then, the Hokage turned from the window he had been gazing out of for a while, and all unnecessary thoughts got a rapid eviction notice.

For it was not the face of Old Man Hokage, the grandfatherly, cranky, and slightly perverted old man.

In his place stood Sarutobi, the hard eyed, calculating shinobi. Each crease and wrinkle on his face was an outward symbol of the knowledge and the power of a ninja who had managed to survive to his autumn years by trouncing each and every obstacle in his way. He had not lost the edge that made him famous as 'The Professor', the ninja who had mastered an unimaginable number of jutsu.

Faced with this grim, intimidating visage, Naruto could understand why, despite his age, younger ninja - including most Kage - were so wary of the old man.

He was like an old tiger; his fangs were just as sharp and his claws just as deadly as they were in his youth; indeed, he was all the more dangerous for the experience age brought him.

Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, in all his dangerous glory, was a sight to be feared. There was none of the leaking killer intent or subliminal intimidation that younger ninja favored. Sarutobi didn't need such parlor tricks to look damned scary. The hardening of his face, the coldness of his eyes... That was all it took.

"ANBU." His voice was calm as always, but, if such a thing was even possible, it was even more glacial than the eyes. The tone alone made Naruto snap to attention. "Report."

ooo

Edited by Skelethin, to my unending gratitude.

EDIT: Cut of entire section. It was needed, because of bashing. So it got the axe.


	2. Chapter 2

Operator 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Sad, I know.

A Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 1

ooo

If he had hoped that the report would calm the Hokage down, Naruto was in for a disappointment.

The old ninja left in an even grimmer mood than he had entered, after grilling the young Operations specialist with a stream of seemingly unending questions. Just after the door closed, Naruto fell back on the bed with a pained grunt.

He would have done so sooner but that would mean showing weakness. The old man would have probably understood and Naruto was sorely tempted, as his legs started to turn into two jelly pillars of spasming pain, but he stood on for the duration, lest his pain invite yet another 'grandfatherly' tirade. He knew that the old man only did what he thought was best, but he had long ago found that, though Sarutobi meant well, he had a type of... selective blindness to some things. That and far too much trust in Konoha and it▓s people.

He shook his head tiredly before cursing, as the white spots started to creep slowly into his field of vision from the rapid movements.

'Migraine aura. Shit.' He thought laying down with exaggerated slowness, not wanting to agitate his throbbing head even more.

He had wanted to leave the wing and get home before it started but it was too late now. In the next five minutes, the spots would turn into an all out torrent and he would be literally blind for the next few hours. Not to mention in enough pain that it would make him want to split his skull open with a kunai just to silence the pulsating waves of pure agony that made his muscle spasms and pains almost nice in comparison.

He closed his eyes, trying to breathe slowly and deeply, trying to distance himself from the pain.

'Breathe in... let it flow into me... stabilize the heart to make it beat slower... breathe out...'

It was actually one of the first steps to a meditation technique he had learned from a monk during one of his missions. He had never been good with meditation, his chakra and mind being what they were, but, ironically enough, the migraine allowed him to enter a near zen-like state in a matter of minutes. Which helped as the vertigo increased, making the room spin wildly. If not for the deep breaths, he would have probably have puked by now. In fact, he almost always HAD after the regeneration until he learned the breathing trick.

He was brought out from his reverie by a near silent rustle of cloth that was almost like the scraping of the nails on a blackboard to his senses gone haywire. He felt the cool, delicate hands touch his face, a welcome respite from the burning feeling in his veins.

The hands caressed his cheeks for a moment before settling on his forehead and he sighed at the pleasurable, chilly torrent that slowly crept into his head and seeped into his veins with a gentle firmness. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that the hands were bathed in a greenish, life-giving tinge of healing chakra that slowly made the acidic sludge of his disturbed chakra calm down and recede.

The hands went away for a second, before returning with the rustle of cloth, cloth that was equally cold when it touched his face, settled on it. With another rustle and a barely-there movement, the skilled fingers tied the knot at the back of his head and fastened the cloth securely over his face. The next breath he took was slightly chilly and clean of the typical odor of the hospital air, filtered by the mask.

He caught the hand just as it receded, giving it a gentle squeeze and he could feel two smooth, chilly palms touching him in return.

"Thank you," he muttered, opening his eyes. The polarized lenses of his mask, attuned to his chakra with a well placed seal, immediately dimmed the hurtful rays of the sun, but even then he could see the alabaster features and flowing mane of inky darkness that surrounded them.

"How are you feeling?" She asked gently helping him up, her voice like her hands, chilly but pleasant.

"Better." He admitted. "But the jolts are as annoying as always, even after you forced them into submission."

She frowned, clearly unhappy.

"I only forced them back for now. They will pick up later. You will need to go through Kyoushin as soon as we get home."

Naruto stiffened, before relaxing with a long sigh.

"So it's that time, is it? I've almost forgotten. Blood letting... Shit. I hate it. And the post-regeneration buzz won't help things one bit." He winced. "Goddamit. The seals?"

"I prepared them this morning. They will be complete in a few hours."

"Well, no way around that, I guess." He muttered with disgust before leaving that train of thought.

"The others?" He asked, getting up gingerly.

She helped him up gently and he awkwardly started shedding his hospital gown as she answered.

"Hana-san is fine, although she has a broken arm and the Santenmaru won't be in fighting shape any time soon. Kyo-san is shaking off the after effects of the genjutsu as we speak, but he is weak from the wounds and will need to rest. It's nothing life threatening, so he should be up and running in a day or two."

He finally managed to free himself from the clothes and she gave him a small package that turned out to be his spare uniform, which he started to put on, cursing under his breath at the occasional spasm. She chased away his hands and buttoned up the shirt herself.

"Yashiro-san had a few broken ribs, but she is mostly fine and Tenrou-san is nearly unscathed, save for the gash on her abdomen that is already healed." She glared at him as he struggled with yet another button.

"Naruto-sama! Do stay STILL, please." Her voice a sacharinne menace that was at odds with her calm face.

"Sorry, sorry." He waved apologetically. "And the rookie?"

The young woman's hands froze for a second, before returning to dressing him.

"Murasaki-san... Murasaki-san is in coma, Naruto-sama." She said quietly. "The genjutsu hit her... rather hard."

"...Goddamit." He growled through his clenched teeth. "I knew it, I just KNEW it. Taking her on this mission was a mistake! Greener than a spring leaf... She wasn't nowhere near READY! What was the Commander THINKING?!"

"Please try to remind calm, Naruto-sama." She said forcefully, fastening his vest. "Anger agitates your chakra."

He exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself.

"Sorry," he said after few moments. "Can you take me to her?"

Any other medic-nin would have just argued and told him to stay in bed, but she knew him almost better than he knew himself.

"Yes. But we must go home immediately after, Naruto-sama. Promise me." She said, her inky orbs drilling into his relentlessly.

"All right." He nodded.

ooo

It was worse than he thought. The girl, bereft of her ANBU armor and mask, looked almost ethereally fragile, her already pale countenance only paler from the lost blood, her violet hair spread out on the pillow only enhancing the image. Her bed was surrounded by standard recovery seals and...

Naruto started a cold, dispassionate litany of the foulest curses he could muster.

On the girl's head was a Class Three Gyakusou seal.

If they had to use THAT wretched thing... This was NOT looking well, by any stretch of the imagination.

The girl was annoying, greener than grass, full of that self-important, moronic pride and rash, but she didn't deserve something like that.

Nobody should be forced to go though even the first phase of that kind of monstrosity. To actually make it a Class Three... The girl would be lucky if she wasn't stark raving mad when she woke up. If she woke up at all.

The chances of that were... slim. He, after all, knew best. Better than any idiot medics putting it on her, that was for sure.

"Rookie...I swear, if you don't wake up... I'll fucking DRAG you back to the waking world... And I'll kick your ass from here to Snow country right after." He said with a growl, slipping bonelessly into a nearby chair.

"You foolish, stupid rookie..." He whispered, feeling old and tired beyond his years. He closed his eyes.

ooo

Murasaki Rei, chuunin, proud graduate of the Ninja Academy at age ten, chuunin by twelve and ANBU before she hit sweet sixteen, was officially confused.

She didn't know what to expect after being assigned to an Operations team, but it certainly wasn't a pitying look from the few ANBU she asked for directions in the maze-like corridors of the ANBU offices. She didn't even KNOW ANBU had offices until today!

The ANBU were helpful, if professionally detached as she approached them but immediately after showing them her assignment card, the looks of pity started. She actually caught one of the kunoichi whispering 'Poor girl' to her colleague after she asked them for directions!

'Poor girl, my ass!' She thought with a snort. 'Some "poor girl" would never make it to ANBU a day after her sixteenth birthday!'

Although, what was so alarming about this Team 4 she had been assigned to that provoked the looks?

Were they some kind of psychos? Bloodthirsty monsters killing left and right with glee? Cold killing machines without a shred of humanity left? Casual killers without any semblance of higher feelings?

It was possible. After all, this was ANBU and it was a well known fact that some ninja were somewhat... not right in the head after a few years spent in the ranks, thanks to the stress and grueling conditions, even for shinobi life. Even more so, as rumor went, in the Operations division, where the nin could spend months in hostile territory, returning to Konoha for short R&R and going back to the field right after.

Finally reaching the designated door, she steeled herself mentally before knocking.

"Come in."

Obediently, she opened the door and entered.

The room was surprisingly large. Almost as large as the Hokage's office, though far less cluttered. Also, despite the big oaken desk in the middle and rows of file cabinets, it felt oddly empty. Or, at least it felt that way, until you looked into the eyes of the woman behind the desk.

Yusani Kanna was a short and petite woman with dainty features that made her seem like a young teenager rather than the thirty five year old woman she was.

Her oversized, wide sleeved robes and big desk she was sitting behind certainly didn't help matters, making her look like a small child that played dress up. One look in her eyes, just one look in those twin pools of frost and suddenly Kanna seemed to dwarf not only her desk and cabinets, but the entire room as well.

"Murasaki Rei reporting for her assignment, Commander!" The girl saluted smartly, as she was taught, and tried not to loose her composure as the two pools of azure menace that seemed to stare right through her mask and straight into her soul, measuring her, weighing her in every possible way.

Though it took only a second or two, Rei could feel herself sweating at the Commander's gaze.

"Well, at least you're punctual," muttered the woman. "You can stop standing like a pillar of salt and sit down, girl." She gestured to one of the chairs before her desk.

Relaxing slightly, Rei took the nearest chair, sitting down on the edge of the seat, ready to leap back to attention at a moment's notice which drew a snort from Kanna.

"Relax, child. I don't bite." She smiled slightly. "Unless you'd like me to." She said with an amused glint in her eye.

Rei froze before discreetly backing deeper into her seat.

Kanna shook her head with a chuckle, opening her mouth before the doors slammed open making Rei almost leap out from her seat in surprise.

"Playing with ickle rookie's heads, Commander?" came the wry female voice from behind Rei and she turned to find a feral looking woman with two claw-like stripes on her face, ANBU uniform worn in proper manner but still managing to look somewhat wild on her. She was accompanied by three grey dogs. Three LARGE grey dogs.

"Well, I had to pass my time SOMEHOW...," said the child-like woman sweetly before her face turned into a homicidal grimace, "...waiting for a certain team captain who is over twenty. Fucking. Minutes. LATE." She growled, looming over her desk and radiating killing intent that made Rei want to crawl under her chair or suffocate on the spot. The feral woman blanched slightly, drawing back and her dogs suddenly looking like a set of small and fluffy puppies as they hugged the ground.

Kanna glared at the women before snorting.

"Oh stop cowering, for kami's sake!" She muttered, the killer intent vanishing as if it was never there. "Little bit of intimidation and you fall to pieces. And you call yourself ANBU?" She sighed rubbing her temples. "That's the problem with youth today, no endurance at all." She grumbled.

Rei stared at the commander dumbly.

'Little bit of intimidation?'

"Yes it was."

Rei stared at her child-like commander in wonder. She was sure she didn't say that out loud. Was she reading her mind?

"No, I didn't."

Rei boggled.

"Uh, commander?" Said the ANBU captain. "Might you stop weirding out the rookie, please?"

"Not my fault you brats are so easy to read," the woman grumbled. "That they even let you out of the academy without the most basic skill in containing your own emotions is a disgrace to Konoha. Katon this, Raiton that. The bigger and louder the better, and to hell with stealth! Who needs it, let's just blow things up in louder, more obvious ways! Shinobi, my bony ass!" She sneered, falling into a well rehearsed rant that was cut short by a loud cough.

"Commander? As much as I LOVE," the feral woman rolled her eyes, "your most FASCINATING opinion on the current state of shinobi education, evaluation of our skills and pointing out the faults of the world in general, might we get to the brass tacks here?"

Kanna looked at the Captain flatly.

"I hate you." She grumbled. "And I had the whole speech going so nicely, too."

ooo

Rei followed her new captain while trying to shake off the... slight shock. To say that the ANBU Commander was not what she expected would be an understatement of the month.

She expected a cold, efficient ninja, professional to the core, excluding a commanding presence on near-Kage levels. Instead she got petite, childish looking woman who ran hot and cold at the same time, was as likely as to crack a joke as she was to radiate a killer aura that left you a quivering bundle of nerves.

"Kinda hard to wrap your mind around, right?" The captain looked at her with a grin. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. She just likes to mess with people's heads to keep them on their toes. But believe me, you won't find a better commander anywhere. She might seem little weird but once she's all business, get the hell out of her way. She's like flood. Impossible to stand against or argue with."

"...Yes, sir."

The feral woman rolled her eyes before stopping.

"Look, rookie. You don't need to call me sir. I work for a living." She said. "My name's Hana, Inuzuka Hana. Captain or Inu-Taichou when we are on a mission or on duty, Hana or 'that gorgeous babe' the rest of the time." She grinned.

"...Rei."

"Hmm?" Hana blinked.

"Murasaki Rei. That's my name." She said. "Not rookie."

"Rookie," Hana sighed, "I don't fucking CARE what your name is. You could be named Sarutobi, Uchiha or even be Fire Lord's freaking love child and I wouldn't care, either. Until you get some experience and stop being baggage and become useful, you'll be called 'rookie' and like it." She gazed at Rei for few seconds. "You're what, chuunin, right?"

She nodded.

"Greener then grass, then." The woman shook her head with disgust. "No matter. You made it to ANBU. Rejoice. You've been assigned to ANBU Operations Division Team 4. Yay. Bet you're all proud of yourself, huh?

"Funky mask, cool looking armor, badass sword in hand, ready and willing to tackle S-class missions, hmm? Ready for all the accolades, the honor, glory and big bucks that you are due, being part of Konoha's elite? Well, you can stop now."

Rei froze as Hana's warm gaze suddenly chilled, becoming hard and unforgiving.

"Reality check, rookie. All that 'honor' and 'glory' stuff they preach about in the academy doesn't have a grain of truth in it. And the big bucks you get could as well be coated with sweat, tears and blood. Mostly yours. This is a job that leaves marks on the body and stains on the soul a mile wide. So, if you're after that honor and glory, get out. Get out NOW." Hana said forcefully.

"I know what I'm doing, Inuzuka-taichou." Rei said stiffly. "I'm not some wet behind the ears genin, there is no need to try to scare me."

"Scare you? Girl, I don't think you understand what I'm trying to tell you at all." Hana said calmly. "Besides, I don't need to scare you. Your first mission will take care of that. If you survive it, that is."

"Oh, I think I'll manage." Said the young ANBU wannabe frostly, glaring at her captain. The whole condescending manner that the woman, two or three years older than herself, was displaying was seriously getting on her nerves.

"Cocky little thing, aren't you?" Hana raised an eyebrow coolly. "Piece of advice, rookie. Faith in your ability is a very good thing to have, but don't be too cocky to ask for help. Genin, Chuunin, Jounin... That doesn't matter here. This is ANBU. Different rules, different mind set, different world and you've barely touched the surface. Until you learn how to swim on your own, you'll need somebody to show you how to swim, or you'll sink." Suddenly, the air was thick with killer intent that froze Rei in place. "So loose the attitude, keep your eyes peeled and learn. Because if you fuck up, the cost won't be just your life or a hell of a mess for Konoha but also life of your teammates. And I'll kill you with my bare hands before I let that happen, understood?"

"...Yes, Inuzuka-taichou." Rei said meekly, still cowed by the savage killer intent.

"Cool." Hana grinned cheerfully and the pressure vanished without a trace. "Let's go and meet your new teammates then."

'Is everybody in Operations Division bipolar psychopaths or something?!' Rei thought following the cheerfully whistling Inuzuka.

ooo

Carefully, she pressed the knob and slid the door open without a sound.

'Open? So why...?' she opened the door fully and was about to enter before freezing in place as an unbelievably fast kunai flew right in front of her face.

'What the hell?!' she thought as yet another kunai flew by, this time lower.

"Oi. You." Came a voice from inside the room. She looked inside, careful not to step into the room and blinked. In the corner of the room was a man in full ANBU uniform, sans the armor, sprawled on a chair, his legs on the desk, a thick, partially unrolled scroll in his hand. He was rather short, she noticed, with an unruly mess of golden-blonde hair and one of the stranger masks she had seen in her life. It wasn't the hard mask, typical for ANBU, but cloth that covered his entire face from the brow down, although it was somewhat loose at the bottom.

It was olive in color, with two black triangles, stretched at the upper and lower edges, in the place where his eyes should be. Instead of eyeholes, there was dim grey shape in the middle of triangles, some kind of glass or something similar she guessed, but one that didn't reflect light at all. In all her ninja career, she had never seen anything even remotely like it.

On his left was a kunoichi in full ANBU attire, like the man without the armor, neatly pressed as if straight from a tailor. Only way she could describe her was...Fierce. She radiated an odd type of readiness, despite sitting calmly, as if she was ready to fight for her life at moments notice without a pause. Her midnight black hair were cut rather oddly, falling into her eyes, covering them from view completely and there was a single white strand in the inky darkness that started somewhere on the top of her head and went all the way to her face.

'How can she even see anything with that haircut?'

Her face was angular and rather pretty, deeply tanned to a golden bronze hue, as were the other visible parts of her body. She had a tea service, full with the mat and the beautiful bowls and kettle around her, a steaming cup in her hands that she sipped gently from.

"Yeah, you." The man's voice was oddly high pitched and, she noticed immediately, rather annoyed. "Close the damn door, it's hard enough to read this crap without it fluttering in the draft like some demented hummingbird."

She raised her hand, only to retract it as yet another kunai flew by. She carefully looked at the direction it came from and froze.

Near the wall of the room there was a tall man, his dirty blond hair unruly, ANBU Operations uniform disheveled, as if he slept in it for few days straight and, she noted with distaste, outer mesh nearly open and sleeves rolled up in messy fashion that was blatantly against any dress code regulations. Oddly contrasting with his messy appearance were glasses neatly positioned over his angular, if average, face covered in two day stubble. Both of his palms held a kunai... or rather a whole fistful of them, she realized as the man moved his thumbs, fanning out the blades in his palms as if he held a deck of cards.

A few meters in front of the man was a pale woman in...

Rei could feel her eyes widening.

It was a picture perfect ANBU uniform in shape and cut, sans the battle armor but it differed in one, glaring way.

'Is that fishnet?' Rei thought stumped. 'And that almost see-through material.. Silk? And leather? And... is that TATTOO?! My god... she is practically NAKED!'

She wasn't far from the truth, actually. The young woman (and oh, the uniform didn't leave ANY doubt at all that this was a woman. Very much of a woman, really) was covered in a double layer of see-through fishnet that covered her legs, arms and most of the midriff, leaving it bare enough to see a long, serpentine tattoo of twin dragons coiling sinuously from her abdomen to the rather impressive cleavage, along with some... strategic, intimate places covered in very thin straps of leather and silk arranged in a manner not unlike a swimsuit.

Skimpy one, at that. And fishnet. Lot's of fishnet. Although dragons rising 'from her abdomen' would be rather misleading, since judging by the shape, the tails must have started...

Rei blushed in embarassment and outrage.

'What a... a..' she wanted to think "slut■ but there was something about the woman, despite the outrageously slutty get up, that radiated control, poise and an odd sense of grace. She was hot and cold, all at the same time without clashing, was the best way she could describe her. And there was power there. The same thing she felt the first time she laid her eyes on her Jounin sensei. A confidence unmarred by empty arrogance, air of a veteran killer. A dangerous, capable nin that stated in no uncertain terms that anybody moronic enough to mess with the kunoichi did this at their own risk.

Well, that air might be accented by the fact that the woman was just deflecting the kunai thrown by the disheveled man so fast they looked like a stream of metal. With her bare hands. With her eyes BLINDFOLDED. And, Rei realized with a sinking feeling, with enough precision to embed them into several targets positioned on the nearby wall.

No, that woman was no simple slut.

And the man was no pushover either, judging by the casual, lazy ease he displayed throwing a few kunai with enough precision to alter the trajectory of some of the deflected blades into second row of targets on the ceiling. Mid flight.

"Only seven? Sloppy, Kyo-chan." The blindfolded woman chuckled throatily. "A girl might think she is being... neglected. Or maybe you can't...handle more, hmm?"

The man, Kyo, snorted with a smile.

"Princess, between us two, it's YOU who can't handle what I have." He leered, waggling his eyebrows comically.

"Somehow, I don't remember you complaining about my 'handling' last night." She shot back with a smirk.

"I didn't want to hurt your royal pride, your highness." The man waved his kunai as if holding a fan.

"Well, you certainly didn't hesitate in making me hurt in other ways." This time it was the woman who was leering.

"Not my fault you're so kinky. Not that I'm complaining, mind you." He shrugged.

"Well, you'd better." The woman sniffed in indignation. "Although that was fun. Never knew there were so many ways to use a kunai.■ She appeared to be deep in thought for a second. "Tad tiresome, though."

"See, and I wasn't even going full out." The man pointed out, with an oddly sage-like expression.

"Oh really?" The woman drawled with a... rather sinister chuckle, but the tone was like honeyed velvet, one that made Rei blush up to her hair just hearing it. "You should show me the... 'full out' then. I'll be looking forward to it."

"Girl, you can't handle full out." The man sneered in patronizing manner.

"Oh REALLY?" Even through the blindfold, the raised eyebrow was clearly visible.

"Really."

"Wanna bet?" She asked slyly, taking the blindfold off.

"What do I get if I win?" Asked curious man.

"Well, you know..." The woman came up to the man and began whispering and the man perked up almost instantly.

"You're on, princess!" He shouted with glee.

"H-hh... Hh-hh.." stammered Rei pointing shaking finger at the woman's unveiled milky white orbs.

"Oh GREAT. The Wonder-duo strikes again." Muttered the masked man, slapping his face. "Can't you get a hold of yourself once in a while, you perverts?"

"Oh we plan to. Get a hold of ourselves, I mean." The woman smirked.

"That we do." Agreed the man, rubbing his hands with obvious glee.

"H-hhh... H-h-yyy..." stammered Rei again before stopping and clearing her throat with a squeak. "Hyuuga!" She finally managed and deflated. The eyes left no doubt to the woman's identity but when she tried to reconcile the regal (some might say anal retentive), dour, humorless and proper to the point of obsession Hyuuga with unabashedly perverted, sex-oozing, brash...woman (and she used the term loosely) was a little too much.

"No Hyuuga here, little girl." The woman scowled, her eyes going cold and suddenly Rei could feel a downright suffocating amount of killer intent directed at her.

"But..." she started.

"Are you deaf?" The woman said coldly "NO. HYUUGA. HERE."

"No Hyuuga here, right!" The girl said meekly, doing her best to mold herself into the door.

"Good." Suddenly the not-Hyuuga-with-Hyuuga-eyes was all smiles and turned to the kunai throwing man, embracing him in rather familiar fashion. "Now, where were we..."

"Scaring rookies now, Yashiro? You taking after the boss, or something?" Came Hana's wry voice from behind. "Bad form, princess."

This Team 4 was full of surprises, all the...oddness besides. Rei didn't know about the short blond and the girl with the tea set, but judging by the Inuzuka and the Hyuuga, there were some heavy hitters here. And the man √ Kyo, she reminded herself √ to throw Kunai with such precision and speed... That took serious skill.

"And you two slackers..." She looked at the blond and the woman next to him. "Kyo I can understand, whipped as he is..."

"Hey!" The man protested weakly.

"...But not to help your new teammate...? Bad form, bad form all the way, guys." She shook her head in mock disappointment.

"EXCUSE me?" Said the blond, laying the scroll on his desk. "Please do repeat that, taichou, because I think I just misheard." He said slowly.

The Inuzuka woman only grinned.

"Oh, you gotta be SHITTING me, Bitch." said the blond flatly. "We are one man short for, like, forever and when they deign us 'worthy'," he made quotation marks with his fingers "... all they send us is some wet behind the ears rookie? Is that some kind of a fucking joke?!"

"Well, you've been bugging the Boss for an addition to the squad. Now you have it." The Inuzuka shrugged.

"Addition, yes. Some goddamn rookie? NO." He said exasperated. "I was asking Kanna-chan for a goddamn genjutsu specialist, or at least a mildly genjutsu-capable Operator! Not some rookie chuunin, for kami's sake!"

"Hey!" yelled Rei with indignation. ANBU or not, that shrimp was insulting her. Nobody did that! Well, except for Commander... And Inuzuka-taichou...

"Quiet." The word was whispered but had power like a whip crack. The woman with the tea looked (or at least Rei thought she looked, with all that hair she wasn't sure). "You're interrupting my tea time."

"Sorry Tenrou." The masked man apologized, looking oddly nervous. So did, she realized with astonishment, the captain. And the not-Hyuuga. And even that Nagi person.

Inuzuka-taicho coughed, clearing her throat.

"All right, rookie, meet the team. On the left is Sagato Kyo, first class slacker, glutton and perv..." The man made a mocking bow, or at least as much bow as the woman holding him would allow. "Kyo is our resident long-range weapon and ninjutsu specialist and also doubles as a seal specialist from time to time. The oversexed slutpuppy hanging on him..." the said 'oversexed slutpuppy' sniffed.

"You're just jealous because you don't get any." She said haughtily and Hana's brow twitched slightly before she picked up again. "...is named Yashiro, no last name. When she's not being her usual, annoying self, isn't giving the Hyuuga clan a collective ulcer or hanging from Kyo, she doubles as our close combat specialist and field medic."

"The guy in the mask is Mugen." She gestured and the blond waved lazily. "Mugen, aside from being a ninjutsu specialist also handles some aggressive scouting, 'loud' assassination and counter-genjutsu work. The gal with hair in her eyes is Hijikata Tenrou, infiltration, 'silent' assassination and espionage. Though annoy her and she can turn you into sashimi with her sword. And then there is me." She gestured to herself. "Commander of this merry little band of outcasts, nymphos and slackers aside, I'm close and mid-range combat, wilderness and tracking."

"Okay, so she is a rookie. Our," Mugen said with obvious distaste, "rookie. What now?"

"SO glad you asked, Mugen!" Hana's smile was wide and positively gleeful.

Mugen, aka Uzumaki Naruto, had a sudden sinking feeling.

'Oh this WON'T be good.'

ooo

"Yo, blondie." The forceful, if silent, voice shook him from his slumber.

Naruto yawned, opening his eyes.

"Whuzza...?" he said sleepily.

"Geez, how can you sleep now?" Came the disgusted female voice from the rookie. "What kind of ninja are you? Isn't this supposed to be a stakeout?"

Wolf-mask on the upper branch chuckled hearing that.

"Yo, Bitch." He said tiredly, indicating the rookie. "You brought that, right? What for?"

"She's actually competent, Mugen." She chuckled at the outraged sound from the female. "Just a rookie. She's slow on the uptake a little bit, but bear with her."

"Hey!" protested Rei.

"Oh, shut up and go to sleep, you moron." He muttered with disgust. "You might not get the chance later and it's rather hard to make seals while falling asleep on your feet."

"Don't act so high and mighty with me, shrimp!" She snarled, her voice edgy. "Your mask is still featureless, which means you're not much longer in ANBU than me."

"Oh man." Wolf said in a low voice to Wolverine. "Now she's done it."

Although he couldn't see Cat under the mask, Naruto knew she had an amused look on her face.

He could feel his eyebrow twitch. Was he getting that predictable?

"If you had more than two brain cells to rub together, you would notice that one of the veteran ANBU that accompany us has those funny, pearly white eyes." He started, explaining slowly, as if to a child. "And what are those funny, pearly eyes famous for? That's right!" He mock cheered at the realization hitting her that was clearly visible in her body language. Girl was way too open. "Byakugan, the all seeing, all famous Konoha bloodlimit! Which means that regardless of if we watch or not, our friend here," Naruto motioned to the Cat faced mask, "will notice it faster that any of us. So why waste time, if you can recover and gather strength you might need later?"

"And on the final note." He said pointedly touching the forehead symbol of his otherwise featureless and clean mask. "This little swirl here marks me as a veteran, rookie. Learn the difference."

"Maaan... And I SO waited for the 'moronic rookie' tongue lashing." Whined the 'Bitch' sulkily giving a small pack of coins to Cat. "You just cost me my new set of shuriken, man!"

He stared incredulously.

They were making bets?

"Oh, grow up, Bitch." He said tiredly, closing eyes again. "It is way too early for that shit."

ooo

'Bitch' took of her mask, revealing the young and quite attractive face of Inuzuka Hana.

"So, how's it?" asked Kyo, taking of his wolverine mask and clearing off the sweat that had, as always, gathered at the edges.

"The Boss has the reports which means that we are almost home free." Hana stretched luxuriously, moaning loudly as her neck popped loudly.

"Would you PLEASE stop doing that. It's disgusting." Her Cat mask already off, the frown was clearly visible on Yashiro's face.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, glass-eye girl." Hana rolled her eyes over the old argument.

"Excuse me?" Yashiro's voice gone deceptively calm over the hated nickname.

"Shikaku is right. Women, so troublesome." Naruto muttered before whistling shrilly, stopping the escalating argument in it's tracks. "Now that I have your attention... What do you mean 'almost' home free?" He asked.

"Two words... Evaluation report." Hana said disgustedly.

There was a collective moan with hefty dose of cursing from their usually well mannered sword nut. Tenrou hated paperwork with passion fit for better cause.

"Now?" Kyo asked incredulously "It's freaking three in the morning!"

"Yeah, what gives?" Naruto said curiously. "We haven't even made our qouta yet, there is hardly anything TO evaluate, for Kami's sake!"

"True. Most curious." Yashiro frowned.

"You'll get creases." He smirked at the ex-Hyuuga.

"Well, at least I'll look more mature." She said serenely, staring from her superior height.

He muffled a curse and Kyo laughed out uproariously.

"I'll get you yet, princess." Naruto muttered with a glare at which she smiled, ruffling his hair affectionally. "You will try."

Yeah, Yashiro was cool for the fact of possessing a sense of humor, something that most Hyuuga wouldn't know if it bit them in their constipated asses. Even if her jokes came at Naruto's expense. Of course, the 'sophisticated punk' with lots of skimpy, see-through fishnet look was also a factor.

He gave up, rolling his eyes and taking off his 'hard mask', revealing the cloth mask hanging from the wraparound on his forehead.

Lots of people made alterations to their ANBU masks, making them more comfortable, but for him a full undermesh was needed since the mask was simply too big for a ten year old.

Instead of going through the trouble of stripping old mesh each time he grew a little, he got another mask, a cloth one made from strong, elastic material that went under it. He also shelled out some buck to turn it into a reasonable filter for some poisons, which saved him and the team on one of the missions two years before.

He quickly learned to like the mask. It was elastic and so light he sometimes forgot he had it on, it could be lengthened or shortened, uncovering the mouth but leaving upper face covered if he needed to eat and √ most importantly √ it gave anonymity.

He sighed, feeling the cloth of the mask cooling his face. Damn, but those ANBU masks could get hot!

"Yo, Mugen." He turned to the 'Bitch', as they affectionally called their captain.

"Wazzit?" He asked, lazily reaching for his first cigarette in days.

"After we do the evaluation and catch some z's, you up for little drinking?" She grinned.

Naruto cocked his head, lighting the cigarette with a small, one seal Katon.

"Home or bar?" He asked finally.

"Che, as if I would WANT noise and crowd after a mission." She snorted. "Home."

"BYOB?"

"Nah, Kyo still owes me, the slacker." Kyo hung his head. "And he owes you that bet from a month ago. I thought we'd make him pay it collectively."

"Hey!" protested the man in question. "That's cheating, Bitch! It's not like I am rich here!"

"Oh?" Yashiro raised her eyebrow in very proper, highbred fashion accompanied by identical gesture from Tenrou. Naruto often wondered if 'the eyebrow trick' was bred into all bluebloods. Though Kyo didn't exhibit it. But then he was a black sheep.

Kyo cursed.

"So okay, I am." He said sulkily. "But even my wallet is not without limits."

"Yeah, right, as if anybody actually believes that." Hana rolled her eyes.

"I can't win, can I?" He sighed. "Okay, sake's on me."

"Knew I could count on you, blue-blood boy." Hana smirked. "Now, a little proposition for you, Mugen. Since I know you utterly hate to fill out the evaluation reports, I'll fill out yours..."

"I'm all ears!" Naruto said eagerly.

"...if you debrief the rookie." she finished.

"That's all?" he asked sarcastically. "Maybe you want pound of my flesh as well, and eye, maybe a leg? Filling out the rookie's paperwork is just as bad as doing the evaluation report for the team. And giving the 'debriefing' is real pain in the ass too."

"We'll see about that pound of flesh some time soon." Hana smirked and the blond blanched at her lecherous grin.

'Oh man. And here I thought she had forgotten my lewd comments from a month ago.' He thought, a sinking feeling deep in his stomach.

"Minor here!" He raised the hand.

"Pffttt!" Kyo snorted. "Yeah, riiight. 'Any citizen reaching the rank of Genin is hearby treated as an adult in all legal aspects, including marriage and personal relations' Konoha civil codex, page thirty one. So technically you ain't no minor and you know it."

Sometimes, Kyo's upper class upbringing and diplomatic training as child showed itself in those small actions... Like knowing each law Konoha had by heart.

"Traitor!" Naruto muttered. "On whose side are you on, bastard?"

"Hey, survival instinct, man." He gave Naruto a lopsided grin. "With the male to female ratio in our merry little squad... Well, you know how it is."

"I'll get you for that, Kyo." He threatened with a scowl.

"Yeah, yeah." He waved. "Go and debrief the greenhorn."

"Umm, could you please not talk to me as I wasn't here?" came a timid voice.

Hana and Kyo blinked before spotting said rookie standing at the edge of the little team gathering.

"You were still here?" they exclaimed in well-practiced unison. Break the rookie, ANBU Team 4 style no jutsu √ dismissive disbelief.

Yeesh.

'And Hana wonders why people are so goddamn leery of our squad.' thought Naruto, rolling his eyes.

It wasn't hazing, per se, but very close. It was something practiced by all ANBU field teams that stayed together on a permanent basis. ANBU Ops was little bit different than the usual squads. They stayed together permanently and unless somebody died, the squad never accepted substitutes. The cooperation in ANBU Ops teams went beyond simple teamwork. It nearly bordered on kinship. Long-term missions, permanent teammates, high risk, lack of any support from anyone else, save your teammates for months on end... It created bonds that made familiarity shared by Genin teams pale in compairision. On the day Sandaime allowed Naruto to enter ANBU, there was a condition √ he would enter an Ops team instead of Assassination Squad.

His last stab at the whole 'friendship and will of fire' thing Naruto supposed. That and shielding him from 'excessive violence' of AS squad. Not to say he didn't get his share of violence as Ops, but Operators usually killed and maimed ninja or hired thugs, not the civilians like an Assassination Specialist often was forced to.

"I didn't notice her. Did you?" Hana blinked.

"Can't say that I had, nope." Kyo responded thoughtfully. "Yashiro?"

"She must have escaped my Byakugan. Quite a feat." She said, her voice dryer than Sand country in summer. "Tenrou?"

"Her skill is great. I must commend her." The tone was as almost choke full with sarcasm, even more so than Tenrou's usual little comments. "Mugen?"

"Truly, epitome of a ninja. She hid well." Naruto nodded solemnly.

With each sentence, the had-been boisterous rookie ANBU made herself smaller and smaller. There was no trace of the pre-mission bravado and self confidence.

'Well, almost getting killed gruesomely by your own bravado and getting abused verbally ever since the mission ended might account for that.' thought Naruto with a scowl.

Hana opened her mouth, probably to start another round of 'smack the rookie' but he cut her before she had a chance.

"Okay, fun's over. Let her live and cease the trauma on the poor greenhorn, she'll get enough from me as it is. Get lost. Write the report and I'll debrief her." He took a drag, taking in the herbal concoction deeply into his lungs, allowing it easy access to his messed up chakra, calming the increasingly erratic flow. "Drinking time like usual?"

"Yeah." Hana nodded before waving. "Take care."

"You too, bitch, you too." The blond smiled watching her go before turning sour as he turned to the rookie. Since the lower part of his mask was rolled up, she could see his scowl.

"Now, rookie, let's find ourselves a nice, secluded spot, because in the name of ANBU Operations Team 4, I'm going to give you an official debriefing. Feeling fucking scared is permitted. Shows that you have more than two brain cells." He said cordially.

ooo

Naruto used to feel weird giving verbal trashings to older nins, especially women. That is, until his former captain showed him that a good tongue lashing can save the life of your comrade, even if it made him, or her, hate you on private footing for some time.

He had been given one or two similar 'debriefings' when he joined ANBU, which were nothing more than caustic, harsh and merciless list of mistakes and weaknesses made just after the missions, when the pain was still fresh and the adrenaline was running out, heading straight for physical and mental crashdown. Not an easy thing to swallow, by any stretch of the imagination.

It was actually one of the tests for ANBU candidates √ if they could take the criticism and DO something about it, they passed. If they threw a hissy fit or √ worse √ ignored it, they got permanently kicked from ANBU.

Excessive pride and overestimation of abilities was not something ANBU could afford. It got ninja killed and, even worse, it made ninja FAIL. In ANBU, due to the sensitive nature of the missions, failure was not an option.

Still, for all of it's good points, making the girl, still traumatized by a near-death experience via acid, collapse in tears as he ripped her to pieces verbally was not something terribly pleasant.

The girl was a prodigy √ from a prestigious clan, earned genin early, breezed through chuunin exams and got assigned to ANBU at the top of the list, despite being only a chuunin. In a word, remarkable specimen. She got through academy with top grades, got named genius and, according to her overly proud teachers, had a bright, glorious future. She probably did, but it wasn't in ANBU. Since they were used to lower stress levels and were unused to failure, ANBU broke most geniuses. Something that the chuunin teachers at the academy, never serving in ANBU themselves, didn't, and wouldn't, know.

By all rights, he should have left then and there, but the utterly pathetic, nearly teary image the girl was presenting made him sympathetic.

"Listen, I know you are taking this hard but a piece of advice √ you either weather it and learn or you might as well say goodbye to ANBU." He said bluntly.

"Stress, blood, sweat, tears and mission parameters changing so fast that instinct and improvisation are the only things keeping you sane and in one piece √ that's what each and every ANBU mission is in the nutshell. It is not the glamorous, honorable, if demanding, job that it seems like or is painted on by academy teachers. ANBU, especially Ops units like ours, is hell on wheels. It is harsh, brutal and a bloody job that will leave you with good deal of scars, not even half of them physical. It will make you develop a hefty dose of paranoia and several psychoses that will either help you cope or KILL you √ either literally or it will make you off yourself."

"If you don't believe me, talk with the vets, go for files you have clearance for, talk with the dropouts... But above all, do some good, hard thinking if you want to be an ANBU or if you want to return to being a regular chuunin."

She looked at him, eyes glazed over and her face spouting an utterly lost look that after three years in ANBU he learned to recognize as shell shock.

Most rookie ANBU wannabes got it when they finished their first ANBU mission.

Very few ninja experienced the distilled dose of fear, uncertainty and danger that ANBU missions brought until they entered the ranks. More experienced ones just needed to deal with the higher stress but those less fortunate got the ugliness of the world shoved in their face with the brutal honesty of the edged kunai.

There was a reason why some missions were not avaliable to your everyday ninja despite being marked only B or A-class.

He sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead.

"That is all. Dismissed."

He watched her go away, face pensive but thoughtful, before using Shunshin and going home in a swirl of leaves.

ooo

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Shame, I know. 

ooo

Operator

Chapter 2

ooo

"Naruto-sama?" The gentle touch shook him out of his thoughts. "We should be going, Naruto-sama."

"Sorry." Naruto sighed getting up. "Just thinking." He stretched a little, turning for the door.

The blond rummaged through his pockets for a while.

'Where is that damned... Ah. Here it is.' He pulled out a small, fatigued box, opening the lid. "Ah damn! Out. Again!" The young ANBU spat. "I knew I should have..." He blinked as he saw a small rectangular box, a near-duplicate of the one he held, appear in front of his face, held there by a pale, delicate hand. Slowly he grabbed it, opening it to see a line of neatly rolled herbal cigarettes.

"Haku... Have I told you that I love you?" He said seriously, turning to the pale beauty by his side.

"Not recently, Naruto-sama." The young ANBU medic smiled.

"Well, I do." He rolled his mask partially up, uncovering the mouth and lit a cigarette, taking a long drag. "Ah... that's the stuff. Fresh too. Thanks. Sorry for the trouble."

"It is no trouble at all, Naruto-sama." She assured him. "Shall we?"

"We might as well."

They barely stepped out of the room before a ninja in full ANBU attire appeared in front of them.

"Lieutenant," The ANBU nodded. "Your presence is req-"

"Mugen-sama is on medical leave, ANBU-san." Haku said, her voice chilly. "His presence will not be required anywhere for the next week at the least."

"Forgive me, Haku-san but the orders..."

"Your orders don't interest me in the slightest, ANBU-san." The young woman looked at the ninja, her eyes even more chilling than her voice. "As the official chief of Team 4's medical support my authority allows me to make such decisions. No member of Team 4 is fit for duty until they recover. Moreover, the class 3 injuries demand minimum of week of total recovery, which is mandated by the ANBU charter. Do I make myself clear?"

"Forgive me, but my orders come from the Commander herself." The ANBU bowed apologetically. Naruto almost chuckled as he felt the man stiffening when Haku's killer intent filled the room.

"Easy there, gorgeous." He said soothingly, patting her arm. "Kanna-chan won't be assigning me duties. Not after the Old Man himself stamped my leave. She probably wants the report."

"Still..." The pale medic said, clearly irritated. "Mugen-sama..."

"Don't worry. I'll be home soon."

She nodded after a moment.

"As you wish." She bowed. "I shall await you home, then."

She walked away.

The ANBU shook his head slightly.

"Damn... You wouldn't think it looking at her... But that's one INTENSE lady." He turned to the blond. "Nice, friendly and polite... then BANG! Colder than Snow country and fiercer than a Katon jutsu. Geez, Lt... Where the hell did you find her?"

Naruto sighed after taking a long drag.

"You don't want to know, Tano. Believe me, you don't want to know." He muttered. "Lead on. Just no Shunshin. I'm too fucking sore, all right?"

The ANBU nodded.

They both walked out of the complex.

ooo

"Is being twenty minutes late becoming a fucking fashion in the your team, brat?" Kanna groused as Naruto closed the door.

"Please, not today?" Naruto begged. "I'm really sore, my chakra is fluctuating like crazy and I'll be going through Kyoushin in the evening."

Kanna's face softened.

"So it's that day?" She said with a sigh. "Well, it's been well over a month. With recent regeneration... I should have seen this coming." She smirked. "At least you'll have that cute little nurse taking care of you. How she puts up with your rude ass I'll never understand."

"The boyish charm?" He said innocently.

"Hah!" She snorted. "Boyish charm! Bullshit. If you ever had any, you lost it years ago." She frowned. "Pull down that stupid mask, would you." She glared as he opened his mouth. "Doors are closed by the seal. And besides... Do you really think most Ops doesn't at least suspect? Are they treating you any different?"

"Well no, but..."

"Idiot. Pull down that mask!"

He complied, revealing a boyish face with six whisker marks.

Kanna looked at him for a while.

"Hmm. You're not getting enough sleep." She said critically as she walked up. "And try to relax that frown. You don't look cute at all with that face scrunched up!"

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"And don't roll your eyes at me, brat!"

"Yeah, yeah..." He muttered, taking out another cigarette and lighting it.

Kanna glared.

Naruto glared back.

"What?" He said finally, taking a long drag. "I've just recovered. And I'm going through Kyoushin after supper. I need my chakra as calm as it can be."

"Brat." She said petulantly.

"Aww, you know you love me." He smirked. "Tano said you wanted something from me."

"Yeah." She threw him a small folder. "Read."

Frowning, Naruto opened the thin folder and his eyes widened as he went through the first page.

"That is...!" He looked at his Commander.

"Read." She said calmly.

He kept on reading, this time slowly, with more attention.

He went through three fresh cigarettes reading the material before he looked at Kanna again.

"Damn." He said shaking his head slowly. "This... I never thought you took it seriously. I mean, you argued..."

"The idea is sound." She said simply. "It just needed fleshing out. That's why I assigned Rei to you."

"So she wasn't the replacement!" Naruto's eyes lit up. "That's why you gave us a rookie!"

"To mold and shape her, yes." Kanna nodded.

"And now she's in a coma... shit!" Naruto scowled. "Of all the luck."

"Don't worry. It isn't your fault." The commander leaned in her chair. "If anything your mission against that Lion maniac only confirmed Masato's suggestion. I've been talking with Sarutobi and he agreed to give the idea a try..."

"Yes!"

"...under three conditions."

"Name them." Naruto said immediately.

"Cross training is one. Sarutobi wants every member capable of upper C-class counter-genjutsu work and lower C-class medical training, including the poison one."

"That's not a bad idea, actually." Naruto admitted thoughtfully. "C-class is a little steep but... Manageable."

"Another factor is the medic. He wants one who has at least upper chuunin level combat skills. Preferable borderline tokubetsu jounin. No exceptions."

Naruto winced.

'Well, that might be a bigger problem... Still reasonable. Hmm... Haku would probably agree... though there are other medics capable of that as well...'

"And the third one?" He asked.

"Well, that you will discuss with Hokage himself." Kanna shrugged. "He is expecting you two days from now at ten in the morning." She glared at him. "Do me a favor and TRY not to be late."

"What do I look like, that shithead Kakashi?" Naruto grimaced.

Kanna sighed.

"Geez... Naruto, can't you finally let go of that old grudge? It'll be what, three years this summer?"

"I'll let go when that bastard rots six feet under or resigns as a shinobi." The blond said simply.

Kanna shook her head sadly.

'That brat... Three years and he hasn't changed a bit.'

"Anything else?" Naruto asked.

"No. You're free to go." She waved at him. "And DO try not to show your ass around here before the two week leave is over, will you? I like your dedication and all, but I have no wish to have Haku barge in here with that arctic glare of hers, hmm?"

"Sure. I'll try." He chuckled. "But you know how she gets. I can't guarantee it."

"Bullshit. Sure you can." She said with a smirk. "Just make sure she's too tired to get out of bed. Or walk right, for that matter."

The blond desperately tried not to blush as he scowled.

"I won't even try to ask where you learned about it." He grumbled.

"Now now... No need to be embarrassed." She chided him. "Not many thirteen year olds get so much action from the ladies. You should be proud of yourself, brat."

"I sh-" He froze. "Wait a minute..." He looked at her suspiciously. "Did I just hear..."

"Shoo." She waved at him, reaching for her paperwork. "Go away and stop bothering me. Commander's orders."

The blond frowned, pulling on his mask again.

'I hate when she does that.' He thought with irritation. 'Nosy, slave-driving, underdeveloped, know-it-all-little...'

"I heard that." Naruto froze, hearing the arctic tones and he slowly turned to see Kanna glowering at him from her desk.

'Damn it! I said it out loud?!'

"Umm... sorry?"

"Go away before I kill you, hmm?" She advised him him pleasantly.

"Yes ma'am!" The blond jumped out of the office.

"Heh." Kanna smirked. "Still got it."

Humming under her breath, she went back to her paperwork.

ooo

'Home sweet home,' Naruto thought, walking up to the compound.

It wasn't as big as some of the Clan compounds, but he didn't need anything big.

He wouldn't have it, either, if not for Masato's family generosity and Inuzuka Clan's help.

Though it was in the bad part of Konoha... well, not BAD, but not many would like the close proximity to the regions ruined by Kyuubi's rampage.

Not that it bothered him.

Masato-taichou created the building as the future home for his family. Now it was his. After the Inuzuka Clan sold him some of the forest, it was actually big enough to rate the 'compound' moniker.

And considering that he, Haku and the rest of the team spent a lot of time here, some tinkering and growth over the last three years were inevitable. And Haku's garden was a thing of beauty.

'Well, at least it looks like a home now instead of just a large training ground with a building.'

"I'm home!" He called out, closing the door and slipping off the mask.

Haku, as always, was waiting for him.

'One day, I'll find out just HOW she knows when I'm near. I WILL, even if it kills me!'

"Welcome home, Naruto-sama." She said with a smile. "The dinner is ready."

"Thanks. I'm starving." He grinned. "Any ramen...?" He asked hopefully.

"Naruto-sama!" She said sternly."You are still recovering."

"Yes, yes..." He sighed, before cheering up. "Well, anything you make is great, Haku-chan!"

Haku blushed lightly.

"You are still not getting any ramen, Naruto-sama." She said.

'Rats!' He thought darkly. 'Well if that doesn't work...'

"Puppy dog eyes won't work on me as well, Naruto-sama." She said flatly. "Not when your health is more important.

'Curses!'

ooo

"Yo! Eat up. It's gettin' cold and Haku made some great stuff!" Hana said cheerfully, scooping a large piece of meat onto her plate.

"Yo, Bitch." Naruto sat next to her, looking at her bandaged arm. "I thought you had broken it."

"Eh." She shrugged. "I bullied the medics to do the works and the seals and asked Haku for help. Thanks, by the way." The pale woman nodded with a small smile. "So now it is just strained."

"Seal healing... Damn." Naruto winced.

Not every wound could be healed with chakra alone. Broken bones could be healed by seals accompanied by medical chakra treatment and some drugs, but they hurt like hell. The limb could move, but the pain was crippling and the movements were very stiff. He looked at Hana's left arm and, true to form, she wasn't using it to eat.

She reached with it for the food, but not to hold her plate. She was also using her right hand to reach for her tea. The arm was twitching, from time to time and Hana winced slightly each time. The Inuzuka heiress' resistance to pain was incredible. If she was wincing, it must be quite painful.

"Why seals?" He raised an eyebrow. "We're on leave. You could have waited. With chakra treatments it would be perfectly okay within a week. Sooner, knowing the way you heal."

"Well, you know me. I hate the casts." She shrugged, before grabbing another helping of meat. "Besides, going through the Kyoushin with you with a broken arm... No thank you."

Naruto froze.

"Not a fuckin' word." Hana said calmly, chewing the meat.

"But...!"

"Didn't I just tell you to shut the fuck up?" She glared at him.

Naruto closed his mouth, looking at Haku helplessly.

"It isn't like it is the first time, Naruto-sama." She said gently, eating with calm dignity.

Naruto winced.

"Listen, you fucking idiot." Hana sighed, putting down her tea. "If I didn't WANT to... I wouldn't. I WANT to. Should I spell it out for you?"

Naruto looked at her for a moment.

"Besides... We might not have a choice anyway." She muttered.

The blond looked at her in alarm.

"I'll tell you later. After."

"But if..."

"AFTER." She said forcefully. "I need to... make sure, first."

"...Do as you like." He said finally with a scowl. "Not like I can stop you, anyway."

"See, Haku?" Hana grinned. "He IS a fast learner. He learned the most important lesson a man can learn about women and he is a teenager."

"Indeed." The pale beauty smiled serenely. "Isn't Naruto-sama great?"

Naruto glared at the women, one refined and deadly, the other just as deadly but wild.

"More beef, Naruto-sama?" Haku said pleasantly.

ooo

"That's some good sake, Naruto." Hana said lazily, swirling the liquid in her glass.

"Won it off Kyo." Naruto shrugged. "I still don't know where he gets it."

"Please do not drink much." Haku reminded softly. "We still have Kyoushin to get through."

"Heh. Easy. It's just to loosen up a little." Hana snickered as Haku sighed, shaking her head.

"Verrrry funy." Naruto said dryly. "How long have you been thinking about using that line?"

"Since the last time?" Hana grinned. "Come on, it BEGS to be!

"Seriously, I don't get you some times." The blond muttered, sipping his own alcohol.

"The day you understand women, go and ask Haku for a dress." Hana snorted.

"Actually, Naruto-sama looks quite good in a dress. Very cute." Haku said calmly, sipping her sake steadily.

Hana choked.

"...WHAT?!"

"Oiroke no Jutsu." Naruto smirked. "I make one HOT babe, let me tell you."

"Really?" Hana said with wide eyes.

"Aoba-san certainly seems to think so." Haku nodded.

"Bastard kept hitting on me the whole festival." Naruto grumbled.

"...You're kidding." Hana said with disbelief, looking at Haku and Naruto. "You're NOT kidding."

"I felt so much sympathy for Aoba-san." Haku sighed. "He was so disappointed when I came by to take my date." She smirked.

Hana looked at them, before falling back and laughing her ass off.

"Yes, I thought so too." Haku nodded her head gracefully, sipping her sake.

Naruto just chuckled.

ooo

"Damn, I hate this shit..." Naruto muttered looking at the seals.

The room was one of the bigger ones, though not the biggest. It was inlaid with wood, with a complicated seal array on the floor.

"I know, Naruto-sama. But it is better than constant pain, isn't it?" Haku said with sympathy.

"Or freaking chakra burn." Hana piped in. "Door's locked."

"Ah. Thank you." The pale skinned woman touched one of the seals on the wall gently and it shimmered, before disappearing.

"Well, now the room is sealed." She said with satisfaction. "Shall we get started?"

"Might as well." Naruto sighed, shrugging off the shirt, leaving only pants on as he laid on the floor in the center of the array.

Haku nodded, standing at the edge of the array as her nimble fingers started to go through series of seals, a scroll between them.

Halfway through the sequence, she bit one of her fingers, smearing the blood over the scroll which grew suddenly.

Hana watched, fascinated as the bits of blood started glowing and Haku's hands became a blur.

Honryuu Fuuin wasn't one of the most chakra intensive sealing arts, but it demanded skill and incredible precision. To do it so fast...

'That's Haku for you. Only fifteen... and already one of the most talented medics in Konoha. No wonder people say she might equal Tsunade one day.'

The delicate medic finished the sequence and the scroll grew once more.

Haku opened her eyes and outstretched her arms to the sides and the paper unrolled, following her hands, hovering for a second, before tightening and flowing down to the edge of the array.

Haku's eyes grew cold and Hana winced, knowing what was going to happen.

It was the third time she had seen this, and each time Hana could see how much it killed the girl inside to do it.

"Go." The pale medic whispered harshly.

The array lit up for a brief moment and Hana gritted her teeth as she heard Naruto hiss.

But that was just a prelude.

The seal started to smoke lightly at the edges, before lighting with a sinister, if muted, red light.

Haku paled a little but her fingers moved seals as the two smaller scrolls in the corners of the room unrolled, releasing some water that was almost immediately frozen.

Hana knew that Haku could draw moisture from the air, but this was better way.

'After all, she'll need the energy later on.'

The mirrors appeared, surrounding the array.

'Now...' Hana thought, grimacing. 'Damn it...'

Haku might have been pale, but her hands didn't waver.

The one handed seals flowed like water.

The air froze.

The mirrors settled on the sides of the array...

...and crashed into dust.

Naruto howled.

Hana grit her teeth as she watched Haku slowly forging a long spike out of the moisture, solidifying it into a long, slender dagger.

Slowly, pushing out Naruto's screams from her mind, Haku walked to the figure. The ice seal held Naruto in place, otherwise he'd be thrashing and clawing at his body, now covered with the smoking patterns of seals.

The pale skinned girl knelt by the blond, raising the dagger.

Hana grabbed her arm.

Haku looked at the Inuzuka, biting her lip.

Hana nodded slowly.

The medic nin looked at her, returning the nod.

Solidifying the rest of moisture into a dagger identical to hers, she gave it to Hana.

Both women cut their palms, smearing the blood on the blades.

Then, cut after cut, incision after the incision, they started to follow the pattern of the seals on Naruto's body, cutting the gruesome design. One after another. Without a stop, without a pause.

There were easier ways. But they took longer and weren't as effective.

The cuts were thin at best, and with Naruto's insane healing rate, there would hardly be a mark by morning. But pain was the same. Though, burning from the seals as he was, it was probably a relief.

With each cut, a seal disappeared, diffusing the toxic sludge that was the leftovers of the imperfect mixing between the bijuu and a human. With each cut, the raging violet aura receded a little.

By the time they were finished, Hana was sweating. It wasn't a hard job, but it required her to channel some of her own chakra through the blood. And that took some concentration. It was good that her and Naruto's aura's matched so well, having that undercurrent of animal-like qualities.

Haku sighed, letting her dagger dissipate.

Hana noticed that her own had started to evaporate already.

"Well, now that's that." She muttered. "Now, for the fun part."

"Yes." Haku nodded.

Naruto's ragged breathing settled, and he was already moving as the seal dimmed, it's power drained.

He shook his head slowly, sitting up and turned his head to look at them.

Hana licked her lips as his eyes widened, before narrowing as he saw them both.

Haku already undid the sash on her yukata, letting it slide off her body, leaving her completely naked.

Hana smirked. throwing away her shirt and kicking away her pants, following Haku.

There was a side effect to the fast procedure. The large amount of purified chakra, the temporary blood link...

Hana hissed, feeling her blood boil with desire and arousal.

Potent stuff. And better than any aphrodisiac. They wouldn't have been able to resist even if they wanted to. The first time Haku tried out that procedure, Hana was caught in the backlash. They fucked like rabbits for several hours.

Who knew that Hana's own bestial aura, mixed with Naruto's, could produce such an effect? But the procedure turned out to be beyond successful. It took only several minutes instead of an hour and lasted for months.

And then-twelve year old Naruto stopped being a virgin.

So did Haku.

Hana never had any other lover from that day on.

After she snapped at her mother one day when she accused her of being 'mopey' she started to suspect.

And as she could feel her blood boiling with fierce, primal need, she knew for sure.

Inuzuka had bonded with their animal partners for centuries, even before Konoha had been formed. The bond was for life. Though the human could get another partner if the dog died, the scar was left forever. And the dog simply... died. From a broken heart.

The centuries of symbiosis wrought changes. The dogs started to be far more intelligent, started to, in some cases, speak. Develop some strange powers. Humans became stronger. Fiercer. Their senses were as sharp as animal ones. They healed better, they were tougher and far more ferocious.

One of the stranger things that came from the evolved bond, was something called 'imprint link'.

Inuzuka married. Inuzuka loved. Like any other person.

With one exception.

Sometimes, when Inuzuka met a... well, right person. Their blood sang. Their senses went into overdrive. And the bond was formed. Small, tentative bond. But one for life. One that only got stronger.

It was very rare. So rare, that Hana ignored the first signs. Sometimes, possessing a fierce aura, Inuzuka reacted to equally fierce people. Naruto was fierce as hell when he cut loose. In retrospection, she knew she was fooling herself. They had the chemistry. Even when he was just a brat, they worked well together. Like a machine. No words, no mistakes. They just KNEW. Working with Naruto was like working with one of her dogs. Instinctive.

Then the brat and his fucked up metabolism hit puberty. And Haku used that diffusion thing. Hana stood guard. Just in case. After all, Haku was good, but experimental treatments sometimes backfired, right?

When that chakra was released... Well, she wasn't 'linked' then. Not like Haku was due to her own blood used as a medium or as she was now.

But... her blood sang. Her senses couldn't stop concentrating on Naruto.

She had ripped the door apart then. And they spent rest of the night fucking each other senseless.

And she knew. Oh, she tried to find reasons why she needed to 'check'. After all, experimental treatment, right? With a bijuu involved...

Well, she checked all right. The second time, when they were returning from the mission, she almost bit Yashiro's head off when the ex-Hyuuga came to her room to wake her up and found Naruto in Hana's bed. Or would have bit her head off, if she could've walked straight.

'Heh.'

Hana bared her teeth in an animalistic smirk as she stalked towards Naruto.

Even as her blood sang and boiled with primal desire, her senses were screaming this along with another tune.

'MINE! MINE! MINE!'

It was weird that she wasn't ripping Haku to shreds, really. Inuzuka females that bonded in such manner tended to be intolerant towards rivals and instinctively violent.

Somehow, in some odd way, Haku didn't register as a rival. Was it some odd side effect of that night, the first time around? She didn't know. But she didn't complain.

With that freaky regeneration of his, Naruto had more than enough stamina for them both.

And Haku smelled good. Like water in the morning, the breeze from the lake and slight scent of pine trees and ice.

'Yesssss...'

Hana stalked the blond with a grin, a halfway mad glint in her eyes, teeth bared, growl in her throat.

'Isn't love beautiful?'

ooo

"Pillows."

"Mhmm?" Haku raised her head from Naruto's chest lazily.

"We need more pillows." Hana muttered. "Naruto's nice and all... But a pillow or two would be good."

"At least we have a blanket." Haku smiled, pulling the large sheet over them snugger.

"Yeah... That was some good thinking there." Hana, propped her head on Naruto's shoulder. "Without you, Naruto probably would live with bare walls, a cot or something and would eat cup ramen every day. Aren't you tired of taking care of him? You take care of this large home... You cook, you take care of him, you are our personal medic and a Konoha shinobi... Aren't you tired?"

"No." She shook her head. "Besides, he takes care of me just as much."

"And that's good." Hana smiled. "Somehow, you have to tell me just how a knuckle head like him found a lady like you. I mean, what has he done to deserve someone like you?"

"What?" Haku smiled softly and there was something odd in her eyes that Hana couldn't quite place as she combed the sleeping ANBU's hair. "He gave me everything and never asked for anything in return. Could I have done any less?"

Hana sighed.

"That's so damn typical of you both... The pair of hopelessly stupid, naive saps."

"Are you any different?" The medic smiled.

"Heh. Good point."

ooo

Edited by Skelethin.

AN: To some of my reviewers - you asked if 'the rookie' woke up or if that was a flashback. Here's your answer. Also, yes, this is Haku, female version. Zabuza's alive, he just never trained Haku or evne met her. Haku had been a Konoha nin (or 'Naruto' nin rather) since childhood. It will be explained, have some patience. Yes, this is a Haku/Naruto/Hana fic. But that's it. Naruto won't be getting involved with anyone else as far as romance goes. This is not a harem fic.

For those who will complain it's 'slow' - it is. For a reason. Before I even touch the whole mess with Kakashi, I intend to show how this version of Naruto lives, show his friends and introduce some characters (like Gekkou Hayate) who will be important later on. Once the action starts, it will be more than fast enough. And there will be plenty of blood, death, and action to go around.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Edited by Skelethin.

---

Operator

Chapter 3

---

The morning came...

...too early.

"Daaamn but I'm sore...!" Hana yawned, stretching as she walked into the kitchen.

Haku just shook her head with a smile.

"Please sit, I'll have breakfast ready in a minute."

"Damn your morning perkiness..." Hana grumbled sitting by the large, low table. "Seriously... First thing in the morning and you're all chipper. Aren't you feeling even a little bit worn out?"

"Tired? Mm. I wonder." The pale woman giggled. "But it's good kind of tired, hmm?"

"No arguing here." Hana stretched, moaning as the kinks in her back vanished. "Still, it is damn illegal to be so perky in the morning. Honestly."

"Ah, I guess I'm just a morning person." Haku said putting the bowls on the table.

"Four?" Hana raised an eyebrow. "Why there would be-"

"Good. Morning." Came the familiar deadpan from the side.

Hana yelped and almost jumped from the table.

"GOD-FUCKIN'-DAMMIT TENROU!" She howled. "How many fucking times did I tell you not to do that in the morning?!"

"One hundred...forty...five. Mhm. Yes. That. Would be... right." Tenrou nodded, her eyes covered by her inky mane as always.

"Geez..." Hana rubbed her temples. "When did she get here anyway?" She asked Haku with irritation.

"Mor...ning. Yes." Tenrou said, before nodding.

"Morning is NOW, you fruitcake!" Hana muttered.

"Hmm... I guess it would be just after you came in." Haku said, tapping her cheek.

"And you didn't so much as thought about saying 'I'm in?'" Hana growled at the swordswoman.

Tenrou just kept staring.

"Right. Stupid of me. Damn fruitcake." The Inuzuka heiress sighed dejectedly. "Why are you here anyway, Ten?"

"Hungry. Haku's cooking... Delicious." The dusky skinned woman nodded.

"Ah, thank you." Haku blushed. "Tenrou comes around every morning. She likes my cooking I guess."

"Like. Very." Tenrou nodded sagely, her face still expressionless.

"Geeeez... You damn freeloader! Every morning?" Hana scowled. "And you didn't even think of bringing anything all this time? You shouldn't get anything because of that!"

The swordswoman turned to her captain, her body tense.

"Haku's Food... DELICIOUS." She said forcefully, her ever present sword appearing as if by magic in the taciturn woman's hand. "I. Will. Eat. I'll fight you... for it. Now?"

Hana blinked.

"Damn." She muttered. "I guess you really are serious."

"Food. Serious thing. Yes. Haku's food... most serious thing." Tenrou said nodding. "Fight now... or later?"

"Eh." Hana shrugged. "If Haku doesn't mind... I guess it's okay." She muttered.

"It is so nice to feel appreciated." Haku sighed happily.

"Yo." Naruto walked in yawning, like Hana clad only in a loose shirt and pants. At least his fit. "Hey bitch, you've stolen my clothes. Again."

"So what." Hana sniffed him. "Mmm... You smell good."

"You... reek." Tenrou sniffed. "Of... her." She pointed at Hana. "But you smell... of her." She pointed at Haku. "That is... a good smell. Good night?"

"Oh you can damn BET it was." Hana smirked. "He kept us nearly up to dawn."

Tenrou looked at Naruto who just shrugged.

"Ah. Good." She nodded. "Sexual tension... bad. Makes you both. Angry. Yes." Then she calmly gone back to eating, stealing from Hana's plate.

"Hey! Stick to your own plate, you thieving fruitcake." Hana scowled growling. "The beef is MINE!"

"Can't keep it... Not yours, then?" Tenrou pointed out, calmly stealing another morsel.

"Why you...!" Hana rose.

"Please." Haku was smiling, but her voice was oddly... chilly. "No fighting during breakfast if you would be so kind?" She said sweetly.

Hana and Tenrou froze, blanching.

'Crap!'

"And Tenrou... Please don't steal. I'll give you a bigger portion, okay?" Tenrou's lips tightened a little, which meant she was scowling.

"Not... as fun." She declared petulantly.

"Please? Ten-rou-san?" Haku sing songed, looming over the swordswoman who shifted back a little, before nodding slowly.

"Thank you!" Haku beamed.

Hana just stared.

"I've seen this before... But it still amazes me." She said reverently. "That girl is my hero."

"Oh this is nothing." Naruto said waving his hand dismissively. "You should have seen her when she chewed out that jounin for screwing up last week. Now THAT was scary. Guy is almost two meters tall, built more solidly than Gai and is as tough as they come. I thought he was going to cry before she was halfway done."

"Now that must have been interesting." Hana shook her head in amusement as she started eating. "Heh. She doesn't know what 'back down' means, does she?"

"Ah, I'd like to say that I am... determined." Haku said, sitting by the table gracefully. "More rice, Naruto-sama?"

"Please." he nodded as she scooped him some. "Anybody spoke with Yashiro or Kyo?"

"They will... come by. Later." Tenrou offered. "At Masato-taicho's... place."

"Yeah." Naruto sighed. "We haven't been there lately, eh?"

"Well, we've been busy." Hana muttered, chewing. "Now we're on leave, so I guess Ryoko won't mind, right?"

"Ryoko never minds." Naruto snorted. "And I bet she'll chew us out for not coming earlier, too."

"Ugh..." Hana hung her head. "Please don't remind me."

"And I guess we can go and see Masato-taicho while we're at it." The blond frowned.

"Yeah. I guess so." Hana sombered, before shaking her head. "Hey, what about if we hit the town and drink ourselves stupid after that?"

"We ALWAYS drink ourselves stupid." Naruto pointed out dryly.

"Then I guess we have to keep up the tradition, eh?" Hana grinned.

"I'm... Game. Yes." Said Tenrou.

"Sure, why the hell not." Naruto shrugged. "And I bet Yashiro and Kyo would be all for it, too."

"Hmm... I guess I should come too, then." Haku sighed. "To keep Naruto-sama and the rest of you out of too much trouble, if nothing else."

"HELL YEAH!" Hana smirked, rubbing her hands. "We're gonna drink until we drop, Team 4 style!"

Haku just rubbed her temples with a sigh.

'I guess it is five hangover remedies to prepare for the morning, then.'

She smiled as she watched the incomplete team's antics by the table.

'Honestly, those people... And Naruto-sama... They are all the same.'

It was hard to believe that the people rough housing by the breakfast like children were among the most effective killers in the ANBU ranks.

'So carefree...'

She smiled looking at Naruto's smile.

As long as he smiled and was there so she could walk by his side...

The world was all right.

---

"Drinking, sure!" Kyo nodded, rubbing his hands with glee. "You're on! And we have that con- ow! Ow! ow!" The 'True Sniper' yelped as Yashiro grabbed his ear in a painful looking hold. "What?!"

"You're NOT getting into drinking contest with Mugen again, honey." Yashiro drawled lazily.

The renegade nobleman opened his mouth.

"Uh uh! No. No means no, hon." Yashiro said calmly. "And puppy eyes won't work on me, too. Forget it."

"Spoilsport." The sniper muttered petulantly.

"Last time was a goddamn fucking disaster. You're NOT getting us banned from another bar again." Yashiro smirked as she watched the pitiful looking sniper hung his head sadly. "Now now, honey..." She cooed, patting his head. "It won't be so bad. Why wont the two of us..." She lowered her voice whispering into his ear.

It took less than two seconds for a silly smile to appear on Kyo's face.

"Oh you're SO on!" He said gleefully, almost skipping.

"Now I'm honestly afraid of whatever you told that pervert." Hana raised an eyebrow. "Though I must admit... you push his buttons like no one else."

Yashiro smirked, buffing her nails.

"I'm the best, Bitch. The best." She giggled sinisterly. "Oh that's gonna be SO fun..." She shivered, licking her lips.

"Just don't overdo it, girl. You're still technically in recovery." Hana cautioned.

"Feh." Yashiro sniffed. "As if you're the one to talk, miss 'I-will-screw-my-man-till-morning' Inuzuka."

"True, but I at least bullied medics into healing me." Hana said smugly.

"Rats!" Yashiro scowled. "That's not fair!"

"Is that jealousy I hear?" Hana said gleefully

"Fuck you!" Yashiro muttered.

"Ooh... such nasty words, princess." Hana cooed. "Did I hit a nerve?"

Yashiro sniffed.

Naruto just sighed.

'How did I end up in this asylum anyway?' He thought shaking his head, before blinking as he looked forward. "Oh hey... The garden is new. Ryoko was busy, I see."

"Nice. Very, very nice..." Haku looked at it with eye of a true professional. "And she planted it so fast, too... I'm a little jealous. Those roses are really beautiful."

"Well, if you ask Ryoko I'm sure she can give you samples." Naruto said helpfully.

"You're right." The pale girl smiled. "That is Ryoko-san, after all..."

---

"Hana! And Mugen! Yashiro, Kyo, Tenrou... Even Haku!" Ryoko smiled widely, ushering them. "You haven't been around for months! Please, come in! I just baked a cake!"

The Team 4 hung their head with embarrassment collectively.

If there was a mother for the band of outcasts known as Operations Team 4, Akagi Ryoko was her.

A former jounin and ANBU herself, Ryoko retired from the service to concentrate on her children and leading the Akagi clan after her father passed away. Like Masato, the team's former captain, she had nothing but a kind word and advice for them and her home was always open to her husband's former subordinates.

She was a beautiful and warm copper haired woman with full lips that always seemed to smile. It was hard to believe that she was once the Shien no Yuurei, one of the deadliest assassins in the history of the ANBU.

But then, aside from Tenrou, people never thought much of Team 4 either.

"I'm sorry we haven't been around Ryoko-san..." Hana muttered hesitatingly, shifting nervously. "We had a lot of-"

"Oh don't worry, don't worry!" Ryoko waved the concerns away with a smile. "I know how ANBU gets. You're here now, right? That's all that matters. Though..." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I advise you to at least drop a word, hmm? If not for Kanna's generosity I wouldn't know if you are alive or dead."

"Y-yes, ma'am!" Hana said, paling.

"That's a promise, okay?" Ryoko beamed.

"I will make sure that they keep it, Ryoko-san." Haku smiled cheerfully "You will, won't you?" Both women smiled sweetly at the five ANBU.

"Kyaaaa! Haku... So cute!" Ryoko squealed. "And you've gotten even more beautiful, too! So delicate and graceful! Like a princess! I'm so envious!"

"Ah it's nothing, I can never equal you, Ryoko-san." Haku said, blushing. "You're so much prettier than I can ever be..."

"Nonsense!" Ryoko said cheerfully "You are getting more beautiful each time I see you! You're already more beautiful that this old woman can ever hope to be!"

"But Ryoko-san! You're not old!" Haku said indignantly. "You're not old at all! It is just me who is so immature still..."

"Kyaaaaa!" Ryoko glomped the girl. "SO SWEET!"

"You know... I kinda see the resemblance..." Whispered a wide eyed Kyo. "Scaaaaaary..."

"You are afraid?" Said Naruto. "And what am I supposed to say? If she gets as scary as Ryoko-san..." Naruto paled. "Oh kami..." He whimpered.

"Na-ru-to!"

The blond paled looking full on at Ryoko's frown.

"I do hope you're treating her well, young man."

"Y-yes ma'am!" The blond ANBU nodded vigorously.

"See?" Ryoko smirked, turning to Haku. "That's how you handle him. He's bit of a blockhead, but a good boy." She frowned, peering at Naruto. "Oh my. You've grown again! Soon you'll be taller than Hana!"

"Well I DO happen to be a teenager with a completely fucked up maturation cycle." The blond muttered.

"What was that?" Ryoko smiled sweetly.

"N-nothing!" Naruto paled and Kyo snickered.

"And do you have something to add, Kyo?"

"Umm... no?" The 'True Sniper' swallowed nervously.

"I thought so." Ryoko smirked triumphantly. "Now come on in. The cake should be all right and the kids will be delighted to see you after so long!"

---

"Aunt Hana!"

Hana laughed as the six year old first part of twins, the long haired Aoi barreled into her.

"Hey there, squirt." She chuckled, spinning the little girl.

Naruto felt a tug at his leg as the other twin, the serious eyed Hotaru tugged at his leg.

"Yo." He grabbed her. "How ya been, Firefly?"

"Bored." The girl shrugged. "Mom won't let me play with the daggers. She took 'em."

"Took them." Naruto corrected the girl, ruffling her hair, cut into near-identical way to his wild, spiky haircut, though sandy blond, like Masato's. "If you start talking like me, your mom will start chasing me around with the sword. Or worse. She won't feed me anymore." Naruto said seriously.

"No she won't." The six year old said with absolute certainty. "She likes you too much."

"Let's keep it that way, eh?" He smirked as the girl pulled down his mask. She'd been bugging him to get one exactly like that for past year, exploiting his weaknesses shamelessly. He supposed that he would break sooner or later, too. He couldn't deny her anything ever since he had met her when he came around to the Masato-taicho's house the first time. "But daggers... Hmm. I think we can get around that, eh?" He smirked. "Show me your wrists, okay?"

He looked covertly, but Ryoko was still busy chatting with Haku, Tenrou and Yashiro. Hana was piggy-back riding laughing Aoi on Ichimaru's back and the girl was having a grand time.

"Well now..." He muttered with a sinister smirk, pulling out a small brush. "Now, don't show it to anyone." He charged a little bit of chakra in a precise pattern, sketching a simple design just above Hotaru's wrists, so it could be covered by sleeves.

"Hmm... that should be enough." He muttered critically.

"What is it?" The girl looked at the seals curiously.

"B-class storage-link quick access seal. But only for one, small object each." He grinned opening snapping his palm through the air quickly.

Hotaru's eyes widened as two short, beautifully crafted, if simple, daggers appeared in his hand.

He twirled the daggers briefly, offering them to Hotaru.

"Now, the seals are simple." he showed her the short sequence. "Do it in reverse for storage. Like this." He demonstrated slowly. "Can you do it?"

Hotaru grabbed the daggers, then slowly went through the sequence as the weapons sealed themselves in her wrists.

"Excellent." The blond nodded. "Let's keep it our little secret, okay?"

"Sure!" She nodded seriously. "I won't let mommy chase you with the katana." She smirked.

"Why, I'm so touched." He muttered, ruffling her hair.

"I won't have anyone to give me the daggers then." She said with a sage nod.

"Heh. You learn fast, kiddo." He smirked, patting her head. "Just don't let mom catch you. And if you get better... I might think about giving you a sword or two, who knows."

Hotaru's eyes lit up.

"I will. I will train and train and get better! I promise!" She said with determination.

'Masato-taicho... your kids... They are just like you.' Naruto thought as he watched Hotaru look at him with her blue eyes glinting with pure, stubborn willpower.

"We'll see." He nodded at her. "Until then, just be careful, okay?"

She nodded curtly.

"Hmm. Cake." Naruto mused. "Don't you want your part"  
"Cake!" The blue eyes widened with panic. "I want my cake!" The girl ran off.

"Giving her such expensive things again..." Naruto stiffened as Ryoko sat beside him. "You'll spoil her, Naruto."

"Eh. I've got hundreds, if not thousands of blades. I get more every week. I can afford it." The blond shrugged. "And she likes them."

"No dolls, just pointy steel..." Ryoko shook her head with amused exasperation. "She is just like her father, that girl."

"I thought you'd be getting on my case because I gave her weapons."

"As if I could keep her away from weapons." Ryoko laughed mirthlessly. "Too much shinobi blood in that girl. From both Masato's side and mine. She is a natural born kunoichi, that one. Did you know that her first word was 'sword'? Not 'mom' or 'dad'. Sword. No. Hotaru... There is no stopping that. She is too much like Masato."

"Sorry." Naruto said after a long silence.

"Don't be, Naruto." She said looking at him. "I still miss him. That won't change. But I have my daughters and my son. And five other big children to remember him by." She ruffled his hair fondly. "It is not so bad. I think he'd be very proud of you. Of all of you."

"I miss him." Naruto said, lowering his head. "And I know others do, too. Masato-taicho... He was one of the kind."

"Yes, I know." Ryoko smiled gently. "If he wasn't, I wouldn't' have married him, now would I?" She hugged the blond. "You know, I still remember the day when he brought that strange blond shrimp here. That rude little boy in that comical mask and the uncomfortable set of ANBU armor. Remember him?" She grinned. "Not much has changed. The brat is still rude. The mask is still stupid. But..." She looked at him. "I think the brat is a man and a shinobi Masato would be proud of. I know I am." She laughed softly. "Konoha's Mugen no Ken... You've come far from that little angry outcast, Naruto."

"Well I'm still an angry outcast." He shrugged. "And I managed to pick up several bad habits. Some enemies. And a B-class Bingo Book rating. But otherwise, not much has changed."

"Outcast?" Ryoko laughed. "Oh my, Naruto... Are you really? A team that would give life for each other in a blink of an eye. A tight group of friends that might as well be family... And two fine women to share your life with." She frowned. "Which reminds me. We will have a talk about that, young man." She said ominously. "But really... If that is an 'outcast'... I'd like to be such an outcast any day."

"Heh.. yeah." He closed his eyes. "I guess you're right."

"Sure I am." She smirked. "Now come on, let's eat some cake before Hotaru and Tenrou decimate it completely."

---

It was a simple gravestone. No frills, despite the fact that Akagi clan was very rich and could afford the most lavish tomb. But Masato was never one for frills. He liked things straightforward and functional.

The inscription was simple.

Akagi Masato.

That was all.

'Masato-taicho would approve.'

"Masato-taicho..." Hana led the group as they stood in typical ANBU formation in front of the tombstone. "We are here. We'd just like you to know. We are still here. Still together and doing well. We screwed up a little, but we are alive. Just like you taught us. We all returned alive. So don't worry. Just watch over us, please."

They bowed to the tombstone.

"We swear." Hana said looking at her soldiers. " As Team 4, we solemnly swear...

"...no matter what happens..." Kyo picked up smoothly.

"...we will not break our bond, our oath..." Yashiro continued.

"...we will never fall alone, we will never let go..." Naruto nodded.

"...we will keep on going to the end, no matter the cost..." Tenrou continued their chant.

"...we WILL go forward together!" They said in unison.

"So please... taicho..." Hana bowed her head respectfully. "Just watch over us."

---

The party, if one might call it that, was in full swing. Cake was gone, but it didn't take long for another one to appear again. Hotaru and Tenrou glared at each other over the last part of the first cake until Kyo finally got annoyed enough to cut it on half with one if his thrown kunai.

The glare they leveled on him could be equaled to a S-class offensive jutsu.

Kyo hid behind Yashiro.

'The coward.' Naruto chuckled, taking a long drag of his herbal cigarette.

Aoi was on the ground, Ichimaru sprawled by her side, carefully watching the little girl as she happily used the war dog as a pillow after playing tag with Hana.

Ninja tag.

'That girl...' Naruto shook his head.

Hotaru, like Masato and Naruto, was a weapon and ninjutsu nut. But Aoi would one day be either a genjutsu specialist or a medic nin.

'Propably genjutsu. She's way too devious and sneaky to become a medic nin. She'd be bored in a day.'

Barely six years old and she already could do the tree walking exercise, as she presented by following the astonished Hana to the trees by running on them.

'Hmm... I wonder where is Shuichi?' Naruto frowned. 'He should be d- ah. Right. Second year of the Academy. That means jutsu practice.'

He turned when he heard the front gate being opened.

'Speak of the devil.' He smirked at the blue eyed, copper haired boy.

"Yo."

To his credit, the kid first looked to confirm if he was really without the mask.

Ryoko and her kids were one of the very few people who knew that Mugen and Naruto were the same person. But they were ninja children and from a noble clan. They knew how to keep secrets. They wouldn't go calling him 'Naruto' when he was wearing mask and armor - Ryoko trained them well.

Akagi Clan had no blood limit, but they were a very old family, older than Konoha by far, like Inuzuka. In fact, there was an ancient alliance between the two, one that continued unbroken for centuries.

"Naruto!" Shuichi beamed. "I didn't know you were coming around!"

"I'm on leave. And others are here, too." The blond smirked. "How ya been, Shu?"

"Bored." The red head scowled. "I thought the Academy will be fun but... Those things are dead boring. I mean... I can throw kunai already. What do I need the trajectories and ballistics for? You either throw it right or not, right?"

"I see the academy didn't change much." Naruto shook his head. "Some of the things ARE useful but the most... Well, once you become genin you'll see." He shook off some ash from the cigarette. "Tenrou's inside if you want to bug her."

"I don't have a..." With a small hiss a chisai katana appeared in Naruto's hands. "Heh." Shuichi's eyes glinted as the blond gave him the weapon.

Shuichi went in and Naruto took a long drag from his cigarette.

He exhaled the smoke.

There was a loud crash.

"Tenrou-shishou! Teach me!"

Another crash.

Shuichi came out of the room, flying, and stopped on the grass.

"Mhmmm... That looked painful." Naruto frowned.

"I won't give up!" The boy charged again. "Tenrou-shishou! Teach m-eaaaa...offf!"

"I'd give you ten for enthusiasm... but zero for execution." Naruto smirked. "Keep trying."

The boy got up, little slower this time, determination blazing in his eyes.

"Tenrou-shishou!"

"Ouh!" Naruto winced sympathetically. "Now THAT... Just had to hurt."

"Impatient. Learn... patience. Baka. Deshi." Tenrou came out of the room to the veranda and stepped on the training field. "Stance." She said calmly.

"Yes, shishou!" Shuichi, still dirty and dusty, assumed the correct defensive stance.

"Neutral. Baka deshi. Am I attacking you. Now?"

"No, shishou." He dutifully shifted.

"Good." She nodded curtly. "Feet... Solid base. Good. Attack. Now."

Naruto watched curiously as Tenrou put the boy through his paces without a shred of mercy.

Akagi clan had a sword style, but amazingly enough, the only one that Shuichi wanted to learn was the one practiced by Tenrou. Which was a little odd since it wasn't very flashy one, but insanely demanding. And Tenrou was a brutal, if effective teacher.

Shuichi started bugging her a year ago, when he started the academy. After Ryoko gave her blessings, Tenrou agreed to teach him. She had no mercy for the boy and trained him as if he was an Ops rookie. But to his credit, Shuichi asked for none and kept on training without a word of complaint.

'Stubborn brat.' Naruto chuckled.

The lesson was short, to the point and painful.

Tenrou didn't crush him senselessly. She hit where it hurt, true, but never with excessive force. Just enough to show the holes, to improve on the good and correct the wrong. Then she calmly explained where he went wrong in an unusually vocal display and gave him a list of exercises he should spend time doing until the next lesson. Boy soaked her words as if a revelation from a kami, not wavering in his attention for a second.

'Little fanatic. Damn. A male Tenrou for the younger generation. I almost pity the poor fuckers that will be fighting him in the taijutsu spars. With the regimen Tenrou puts him through, even without the sword the kid will be a monster comparing to his academy peers.

"Naruto. Here." Tenrou nodded to him.

"Me? What for?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Sword... Is not an only weapon. Show him. Variety." She said curtly.

"Now?" He protested. "I've just eaten."

Tenrou just tapped her katana.

"If you want it so much..." Naruto shrugged. "Any rules?"

"No external summonings. No assault ones. No mass summoning. Only to-hand access ones. Close combat weapons."

"Sure. Want to tie my hands behind my back too?" He said sarcastically, cracking his neck. "I mean, that's inviting to get my ass kicked by you."

"Not. Sparring. Showcase. Of sorts. Varied weapons, varied ways of fighting." She took a loose stance. "Go."

"All right." He threw the cigarette to the ground and put it out with his shoe. "Let's do it then."

By that time, all members of the small group walked out of the house to watch the presentation.

"Look well, Shu. Every weapon has different characteristic. Attack, defense, movement and strategy. There is no such thing as a perfect weapon. But some things, can get pretty damn close." Naruto grinned. "Let's go, Tenrou!"

He... reached.

And the weapon was there.

One. Two. Ten. Fifty. Hundreds.

He lost count a long time ago. But he KNEW each of them. Could chose every in the split second.

That's why he was the Mugen no Ken.

His swords were not 'infinite'. But they came pretty damn close.

Katana was the first, appearing in his hand with a hiss. No seals. Once the Mugen no Ken was activated, it was unlike any other summoning in the world.

"Katana. Simple. Curved. Sharp. Cut. Occasional stab." He slashed at Tenrou who evaded nimbly. "Good sword. But just a sword."

A slightest of hisses only he could hear and katana was gone, replaced by a nodachi.

"Nodachi. In essence a large katana. But it would be misleading. " He made a sweeping strike on Tenrou who swayed out of it. "Balance, power and speed... Completely different from a katana.

Another hiss.

"Yari." He twirled it in his hands, a deceitful and blurring path of attack. "Seems simple, doesn't it? But it has reach. Power. SPEED." He thrust at Tenrou who ducked. "Disadvantage?" Tenrou closed the distance, touching Naruto's throat. "Opponent cuts the distance, you're toast." Yari went away. Another hiss. "And now we're going exotic. Axe. Powerful. Slow. In right hands, however? Deadly as hell."

And so it went.

Kodachi. Wakizashi, claymore, samshir, trident, halberd, battleaxe, moon-sword, jian, katar, naginata, dadao, kwan-dao, chakram, dagger, kunai, dart, senbon, kukri...

One after another, they blurred in his mind. Some he had mastered. Some he never did. Some he knew in passing. But he had them all.

'Infinite sword. Feh. I should be called 'walking arsenal' rather.'

Mugen no Ken was a complete accident which he secretly blamed the stupid Shiki Fuujin and Kyuubi for.

Instead of unsealing a weapon, when he was half-delirious from chakra overburn, he somehow ended turning it into a very odd summoning.

He could add weapons to it, but once it was there, he could never get it out permanently. It was a summon then.

Over the years, he had collected them. A lot of them. Swords - he had almost every kind of blade that ninja used, even one of the Mist Seven monster swords. And far less, but still plentiful examples of many other weapons, from kunai to such archaic things like spears and bows.

'Though Kyo would probably get offended if I called the bow archaic.'

And summoning the weapons to his hand was just a first step.

There was a reason why every Konoha weapon master almost drooled at the prospect of possessing this summon. Pity there was no scroll. And he wouldn't give them one even if it existed.

They'd probably kill themselves with chakra drain trying to pull some of his moves anyway.

"Hey, walking junk heap!" Hana called. "You can stop now."

Naruto blinked.

"I can?"

Tenrou nodded.

"Ah. Okay." He looked at the sword in his hand and almost froze.

It was the familiar, simple blade with the Gekkou Clan symbol on the hilt. Not awe inspiring, but very solid weapon, very good quality.

'Kazuya's katana... How nostalgic.' He sighed.

Hayate gave him his brother's weapon as a sort of 'thank you' and acknowledgment after the whole 'trial' fiasco. It was a very touching gesture for him then. Still was. Despite everything, Hayate believed him. He was one of the few who did.

He dismissed the katana.

The past was the past. There was no point in dwelling on it.

'And the future looks... Like a blue eyed, bright haired six year old girl with that disturbing glint in her eyes.'

"That was... so... cool..." Hotaru said reverently. "Naruto nii-san.. Please please PLEASE teach me that uber-cool, super awesome jutsu!"

Naruto hung his head.

'How did I know she'd react this way after seeing it?'

---

TBC...

---


	5. Chapter 5

Edited by Skelethin

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

---

Operator

Chapter 4

---

Naruto opened his eyes blearily.

There was a strange taste in his mouth as-

'Bleargh...!' He winced as he recognized it.

'What the HELL were we drinking last night?'

He shook his head, trying to get up, only to be stopped by something.

Two somethings.

'Ah. Right.' He gently unhooked Hana and Haku's sleeping forms from himself. 'Out like a light. Damn. That was some potent stuff.'

From the snores he could hear from the room on the side, he guessed Yashiro and Kyo didn't go home and collapsed here as well.

He dimly remembered Yashiro starting some bawdy drinking song as they swayed and practically crawled back to the compound. He didn't envy them the hangovers. If he actually felt what he drank the day before...

'Heh. They're gonna be zombies till the late afternoon. If they don't sleep through the day.'

Stretching he walked out of the room silently.

'Not that I NEED to be silent. No way they're waking up before noon'  
Still, force of habit was hard to break.

He walked to the washroom, grabbing the towel and some clean clothes on the way.

"Good morning."

He stiffened, before relaxing and turned to the side.

True to form, Tenrou was sitting in the large washtub, tea in hand.

"Mornin'" He muttered, throwing off the dirty clothes.

Being naked around his teammates, women or not, was no big deal. It took some getting used to, but after three years they've seen each other naked so many times it was a norm. Field poison decontamination and several other procedures have that effect.

"I'm amazed you're up. And coherent." He said sitting in the hot water with a groan.

"Couldn't drink as much. Meds." She explained. "Made me speak like a moron, too."

"Really?" He smirked. "Didn't notice."

Tenrou glared at him.

He knew she was glaring. It took him two years but he finally cracked the secret, even with her eyes hidden behind the hair.

"By the way... You tried singing again." He said cheerfully

She froze with mortification.

"What?"

"I can now admit that Kyo getting piss drunk and trying to throw burning matchsticks at a paper wall to make a smiley, trying to serenade Yashiro and pelting the barman's bald head with grape seeds to watch if they stick ISN'T the stupidest way you can get us banned from the bar. Your singing took the cake." He exclaimed gleefully "But I admit, watching those people run was amusing as hell."

Tenrou hung her head.

"Ever thought of making an offensive jutsu out of that?" Naruto frowned thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure windows were cracking at one point. Would have made a HELL of an attack, you know."

"Don't. Push. It." She growled.

"I mean, really. DAMN effective, it was." he nodded sagely.

"I will show you effective." She hissed reaching for her ever present sword only to freeze as her arms were immobilized by four swords, two around her arms each, while two nasty looking swords held by Naruto himself were on the sides of her neck.

If she so much as breathed deeply, they'd cut her. She knew that.

"Fast." Her lips twitched in a smile. "You're getting better."

"Nah. You're just hungover." He shrugged and with a barest of hisses the swords vanished.

They continued to soak in silence for a long while.

"Kanna gave me the papers." He said after a while.

"We know." Tenrou said curtly.

"Ah." He nodded lazily. "Good. So how about it?"

"Hana scheduled cross-training. We are starting as soon as the medical leave ends." She said simply.

"Heh." He closed his eyes. "Who woulda thought... Masato-taicho would be happy as hell."

She nodded.

"Got more tea?" He asked lazily.

She pointed at the kettle near the tub.

"Thanks." He grabbed a clean mug, pouring himself some and taking a sip. It was exquisite as always. But Tenrou's always was.

---

'Regulation one... or non regulation one?' He mused, eying the uniform, before smirking. 'Eh. What do I care?'

He grabbed the simple shirt, black ANBU pants and the simple jacket, putting them on quickly.

A kunai holster, a shuriken pouch... That he could summon hundreds of them didn't mean he couldn't carry some just in case. A pair of gloves, sturdy boots instead of sandals, the mask, and he was good to go.

He slipped the cloth over his face.

'Well, let's go and see what the Old Man wants.'

A brief shunshin later, and he was off, as the lines blurred around him.

'I love shunshin after the Kyoushin. Clean. Crisp. Just like it should be.' He came to a stop on a roof before engaging in another.

Shunshin was generally useless as a battle technique. It had so many limitations it wasn't even funny. But for quick transportation it simply couldn't be beaten.

Almost.

There was one, single technique that was far better. And it could be used for battle as well. The Hiraishin.

'Only so far people who tried to replicate it either failed or killed themselves. Damn shame. Hmm... I wonder if there are some notes left by the Yondaime... Maybe I could try it? Tsunade said that Jiraya helped Yondaime to develop the Hiraishin. Maybe he knows something? Worth a try. Though I'd have to track him down first but... I'll have to think about it.'

He linked another shunshin, getting into another as soon as the second one ended. Not many ninja could do it like that. Even less could handle it like he did.

'Nothing like rapid regeneration, eh?'

He stopped in front of the familiar door to the Hokage Tower and walked in.

---

"I'm here to see the Hokage. I have an appointment." He said to the secretary who looked through her notepad.

"Just a moment ANBU-san..." She leafed through the papers. "Mugen, Operations Division lieutenant, right?" She looked at him.

The blond nodded.

"Go right in, Sarutobi-sama is expecting you."

He nodded again, walking in.

---

The old Hokage and the young ANBU looked at each other for a long moment.

Sarutobi was the first one to break the silence.

"Good morning, Naruto."

The young man nodded.

"You are feeling well, I hope? Has the process gone smoothly?"

"Haku is very good at what she does." The ANBU said simply.

"That she is." The old man smiled thinly. "And I imagine young Inuzuka heiress'... presence helped."

Naruto stiffened.

"Now, Naruto. I might be old, but I AM the Hokage." The old man leaned into his chair. "Did you really think that having... close relations with your commanding officer and heiress to one of Konoha's noble clans would remain unnoticed?"

"So?" The blond said warily.

"Oh nothing, nothing." The old man waved his hand dismissively. "As long as it doesn't affect your performance in the unit, I see no reason to interfere. I wasn't always old, you know."

The young ANBU remained impassive.

'Same as always. You have changed so much, my boy.' Sarutobi thought sadly. 'Where is that bright urchin screaming 'Hokage! Hokage!' endlessly?'

"Pull down the mask please. And sit down."

Naruto gritted his teeth, but complied. It was not a request. They both knew that. He sat down, rolling the mask, leaving it as a headband on his brow.

"Still hiding behind it..." Sarutobi shook his head. "Three years of service, and people only know your mask. But not your face. Are you really okay with that? Being 'Mugen' and not Uzumaki Naruto, I mean?"

"Both are the same person. But people like ANBU better then they like jinchuuriki." Naruto smirked. "Or have you forgotten... Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi sighed heavily.

'Still bearing a grudge... One thing that didn't change is your stubbornness.'

"I didn't call you here to dig up old grievances, Naruto. I have a mission for you. One that only you can perform."

"I'm on leave, you know that." The blond said, rising an eyebrow. "And I have the three months of cross-training courses to go to after it. You approved them yourself."

"Cross-training courses?" Hokage raised an eyebrow. "You don't need those, Naruto. We both know it. Your counter-genjutsu skills are actually B-class and because of your... condition, you have underwent an equivalent of C-class medical course already. Only thing needed is medical division's approval, which is little more than a formality for you. So in essence, you have three to four months of leisure."

"Well, you are the one saying I need a vacation every time I see you." The young ANBU shrugged. "I can think of a multitude of things I can spend my free time on. With so much back pay I almost don't spend... Yeah. No problem." He smirked.

"I can imagine." The Hokage said dryly. "But sadly, whatever you have you'll need to reschedule. Here." He gave him a folder. "Read."

Naruto grabbed the documents, opening the red-marked folder.

His eyes went through the initial material, widening as his mouth tightened.

'Here it comes.' Sarutobi thought tiredly.

"No." The blond said coldly. "I'm not doing it."

"Naruto. Please, do reconsider. You are the only one who c-"

"No means no, Hokage-sama." Naruto said gritting his teeth. "And you can't make me either, since this is not an ANBU mission. Meaning I have an option to refuse. And I'm taking it. No."

"Naruto. Sharingan is vital to Konoha." The Sandaime said calmly. "Moreover, Orochimaru can't get his hands on it. And we know for a fact that he craves it like nothing else. You've been to one of the laboratories during a mission a year ago. You KNOW what he is capable of. If he gets his hands on the last loyal Uchiha, the consequences can be disastrous."

"So? "Naruto shrugged. "You don't need a third rate nin like me who can't keep his emotions in check to watch the Uchiha."

Sarutobi flinched.

"Especially if you have your number one jounin watching the brat." Naruto smirked. "Or are you not sure that Hatake Kakashi, the Great Copy Nin, the Legend, the top Konoha jounin can't watch ONE genin?"

"It is more than that." Sarutobi frowned. "He will need to teach the team and Uchiha when the sharingan aw-"

"He teaches?" Naruto said in mock surprise. "Oh man. He DOES? REALLY? Imagine that. I didn't know that. I mean-"

"That's enough!" Sarutobi snapped, finally losing his patience. "He is your former teacher and your superior, in every sense of the word! You WILL give him the respect he is due!"

Immediately as the words left his mouth Sarutobi wished he he could take them back, as Naruto's face turned into an expressionless mask.

'I did it again... Goddamit...' He sighed. He was a patient man, but the boy's stubbornness was just... It was just so... irksome.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. I know you think you have your reasons but try to be be reasonable about it. What happened to your team was a tragedy, yes. But it was no one's fault." The old man shook his head. "Sometimes, things just... happen. I would have thought that three years in ANBU taught you that."

"It will be a cold, damn freezing day in hell before I call him teacher. Hatake Kakashi taught me nothing." The blond ANBU crossed his arms over his chest.

'Predictable.' Sarutobi sighed. 'Sorry, my boy. I really am.'

"Naruto..." Sarutobi leaned in forward a little bit, looking at the blond. "Let's make a little deal..."

---

It took all of his hard earned professionalism and composure not to slam the door to the Hokage Tower behind himself like some overly emotional kid.

'That...that...!' He seethed, before sighing. 'Ah, damn. What the hell am I so pissed about? I should've seen this coming. Kanna-chan mentioned the 'third condition'. Well played, old man.' He admitted grudgingly, tapping the folder in his hand. 'There goes my vacation, I guess. Though vacation be damned... working with that shithead Copy Nin again... I just can't get a break, can I?'

He sighed tiredly, lighting a herbal cigarette.

He didn't NEED one so early after Kyoushin, but after almost three years of smoking them, he more or less got addicted.

And getting a small dose regularly was better for his system overall. Even one freshly purged.

'Damn it.' He glared at the folder. 'This is so fucked up.'

---

'So. That's the Tsukuyomi, huh?' He leafed through the folder lazily. 'Strange. If this is an S-class genjutsu with side effects like that... Why isn't the Uchiha getting regular counseling?'

He didn't remember Sasuke much from his time in the Academy, aside from the fact that all of the teachers almost drowned the brat in praise for his achievements and reminding everybody how great the 'noble Uchiha Sasuke' was. How good were his scores compared to the mediocrity of the rest of the students.

'Top rookie. Bet he's all proud of that too, the little shit.' Naruto smirked. 'Oh are you in for a fuckin' wake up call, brat.'

From his own experience, he knew that most of the 'top rookies' and 'geniuses' got a very rude surprise in the real world. Leaving the Academy, they were used to praise, used to getting their own way and being the top of the food chain. Overestimation of their own abilities usually followed. And then reality came knocking and suddenly the 'genius' found himself a tiny fish in a really big sea full of sharks.

That was the reason nins with seemingly mediocre scores did better overall and had higher survival rate in general.

'Question everything. Never assume. Always at least try to check when you have the opportunity.'

It was one of the first rules Masato-taicho taught him when it came to combat and it had saved his life numerous times. So you ended with slight - okay, more than a slight - paranoia. But you at least lived long enough to have that paranoia.

'Commendable faith in his own abilities'... What is this SHIT?' He scowled. 'Is the guy writing this report going for the most euphemisms in one psychological evaluation report? This is arrogance and extensive ego, right here! What the fuck is this supposed to be, a report or glorification of The Great Uchiha Scion? What a pile of garbage...' He leafed through pages. 'High combat ability... Kunai is... Potential for.. blah, blah, blah... Shit. Shit. Trash. Garbage. More trash. Ninjutsu level... WHAT? Oh you gotta be fucking SHITTING me! So the brat can perform Goukyakku no jutsu and he suddenly get C-class ninjutsu ability?! Hell-O! Goukyaku is straight C-class, but it needs little to no control. It is just concentrating expelled chakra in roughly one shape. ANY genin can do this. Hell, any last-year academy student would be, if he was taught. And... Extreme perceptive ski- Oh no... Now that just beyond retarded. Uchiha have one of the largest Katon-type jutsu libraries in the village, save maybe the Konoha archives, you moron, and he has an unrestricted access to them! Which, by the way, is fucking stupid. What kind of fucking sun-blinded, Uchiha-obsessed idiot wrote this?!'

He snorted, going through several pages, until halting as he came to non-academy reports.

'Oh. Now. this is better. Anger management... Hmm. Yeah. kinda figured. Possible mental imbalance following... Well, gee. Fuck up a kid with an S-class genjutsu and that's what you get. Living example, right here. And... Oh. Now this is rich. Itachi? Yeah, right. Dream on, brat. Itachi was in ANBU at your age. If he kept his growth at even the half of the speed he had... Shit. No way you can equal him as you are going now. Eh... Psych is... Hmm.' He frowned.

Though the report was far better than the academy one, it was still far too clear cut, far too 'straight' for his peace of mind.

'A cover up? Or... the kid is masking. But that's kinda hard to see. Good shrinks can really pick you apart. I don't like that. I don't like that at all. No kid bounces back like that. I should know.' He sighed, lighting another cigarette. 'Why do I have a feeling this shit will be more trouble than it's worth?'

He closed his eyes as a pair of cool hands gently started to massage his back.

"Good morning, Naruto-sama." Haku embraced him, whispering to his ear. "Are you feeling well?"

"More or less." He said lazily, enjoying the young woman's expert touch. "And you?"

"Waking up was a little... rough." She chuckled. "Hana was a little disappointed you weren't there."

"Ah. I'll make it up to you both later."

"As you wish." She peered over his arm. "A mission file?" She frowned. "Weren't you on leave?"

"It's not an ANBU op. More like a... favor for the Sandaime." He grimaced.

"Naruto-sama... You need your rest." She said unhappily. "Hokage-sama shouldn't put you in the field, and he knows it. Why, the-"

"Not field." He said lazily. "Just a crappy bodyguard job."

"So I can see..." She muttered, picking up one of the reports, before freezing.

'Uh oh...'

"He makes you work with... that man?" She said, her voice chilly.

'Damn it...' He sighed. People looked at Haku and saw the beautiful, gentle and kind young woman, a medic nin who saved lives. But there was a reason even ANBU were very careful around her. When people saw her rank, they though she got the tokubetsu jounin for medical achievements. Her skills were that level. But her rating was pure combat one. Or rather an assassination one. Ironically, despite her occupation as an ANBU medic, her ANBU file mentioned 'assassination specialist' first. There was a reason for that.

Beautiful, kind, graceful and warm... She was all of those things. He knew best. But under that veneer slept a cold, ruthless and terrifyingly efficient killer.

A cold, ruthless and very protective killer.

"Easy." He got up, embracing her stiff body, which melted into him. "I took it on my own. Not without some... prodding." He said with a brief scowl. "But on my own. I hate the bastard, but once I do that, I won't have to work with him ever again."

"I'm sorry..." She muttered into his neck. "I... just..."

"I know, I know." He smiled, grasping her chin. "But don't worry. Things aren't the same like back then. This time, it will be different. So let me handle it, okay?"

"As you wish..." Her hands closed into fists, a coldness returning briefly. "But if he so much as toes out of line, that man..."

Naruto smirked.

'I almost pity you, Kakashi-bastard. I honestly do. Almost.'

---

"I don't like this. I don't fuckin' like this at all." Hana scowled

"You already said it. Haku said it. Yashiro said it. Kyo said it. Even Tenrou did." Naruto sighed. donning on a simple shirt, so different from his gear.

"Well it bears fucking repeating!" She growled. "Not only protecting some brat on your off time, but also working with that shithead... I don't like this shit at all!"

"Don't you have a cross-training to get to?" He asked annoyed, fastening the standard shuriken and kunai pouches.

"Not for another week, Don't change the subject." She snapped. "And Sarutobi-sama... I thought he was above fucking blackmail."

"Well, it wasn't blackmail." Naruto pointed out, grabbing the simple olive jacket. "I do this, I don't have to deal with Kakashi again AND we get additional funding as well as pick of recruits of our choosing."

"We could hav-"

"Oh shut up and just let me do this." Naruto muttered tiredly. "I already took the mission anyway. So it's done. Okay. How do I look? Sufficiently 'genin'?"

"More 'civilian' than 'genin'... If civilians wore the kunai pouches, anyway. But yeah." She looked at him critically. "Get a sword."

"What for?" He raised an eyebrow

"Well unless you want to use the Mugen no Ken..." She shrugged.

"Point." He sighed. He was so used to having every one of his weapons 'on hand' that even the thought of limiting himself was annoying. "The things I do for the sake of that stupid mission..." He muttered with disgust. "Now what should I..." His mind went through several choices until he had an idea. "Heh."

He 'reached' summoning the familiar moon-branded katana.

"Hello, Jougen." He muttered with a smirk, summoning the sheath. Like Katana it was subtly marked with the Gekko Clan symbol.

"Kazuya's katana... huh?" Hana sighed. "Cruel bastard, aren't you?" She smirked. "I approve."

"Just making the great Copy Nin remember a little." Naruto sheathed the Katana. "We were, after all, his first team. It wouldn't do for him to forget his first genin team."

"Bastard to the core." She smiled fondly. "I knew I loved you for something."

"Hmm?" He gave her a sideways glance. "I see my charm won you over, then."

"What charm?" She snorted. "Naruto, you've got no charm. You are borderline paranoid ANBU with issues, bottled up anger and mouth that works faster than your brain. You're a first grade asshole and borderline psycho."

"Harsh." He muttered, raising an eyebrow. "Complaining?"

"Oh hell no!" She laughed, embracing him. "You may be a psycho, but you are MY psycho!" She bit his ear lightly. "And don't you dare to fuckin' forget it." She murmured into his ear fiercely.

"I'm used as a chew-toy by an over-possessive Inuzuka woman." Naruto said dryly. "I feel so loved."

---

'Hmm... Now this is nostalgic. This place didn't change a bit.' Naruto walked through the Academy halls. 'Ah, the hallowed halls of learning, the best memories of my childhood...Hah! As IF!'

He put out the cigarette, uncaring of the pristine floor, looking at the office doors.

'28, 29, 30, 31... ah 32. Here it is.' The blond walked through the partially open doors.

"Whatever it is it can wait. I have a class to..." Umino Iruka trailed off, looking at the young shinobi.

"Naruto." He said after a long silence. "It had been... a long time."

"Not long enough." Naruto shrugged. "I'm here for the Team 7."

"I know. Hokage-sama already informed me." The chuunin said curtly.

"Good. Where are they?"

"Classroom nine, the ground floor. They should be waiting for their jounin sensei to pick them up right about now."

'As if that bastard will come on time.' Naruto snareled mentally. "Sandaime told me you've got my paperwork."

"Yes." Iruka opened a drawer, withdrawing a small folder. "Here it is."

"That's all?"

The teacher nodded.

"Good." The blond turned on his heel, walking out.

"Naruto..."

Naruto halted turning to the chuunin.

Iruka's face was expressionless, but there was no mistaking the tone.

"I... Good luck." He said in a subdued tone.

"Luck?" Naruto raised an eyebrow mockingly. "There was a team once that needed luck. They got one of the worst deals possible." He said emotionlessly. "If that's the 'luck' you're referring to... I don't want anything with it, Umino-SAN." Iruka flinched.

"Besides... ninja who relies on luck? Not much of one." The 'genin' snorted. "But if you don't know that... No wonder you never made jounin."

Naruto turned to the door.

"Keep your luck. I'd rather rely on skill. Not that you'd know anything about it."

He walked out briskly.

Iruka closed his eyes, sighing tiredly.

'This... could have gone better.'

---

'Not even ten minutes and I'm already like that.' Naruto shook his head. 'Getting some petty revenge on one stupid chuunin... How petty can you be. And this guy isn't even worth it.' He grimaced. 'This place... It makes me SICK.'

He opened the door, scanning the classroom.

True to form, every genin team was already out, save the two genin-candidates.

The black haired boy was sitting on the end of the classroom, his face a stony mask while a pink haired girl was sitting on the edge of the seat, inching towards him with a blush.

'Well, the Uchiha princess is here. Who's the little fangirl, though? She seems familiar...' Naruto mused, walking in. "Yo." He raised his hand lazily. "You're Team 7, right?"

The girl snapped her attention from Uchiha for a second, while Sasuke just looked at the blond with impassive face.

"What is it to you?"

"I'm here as the third team member." He sat on one of the tables "Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uchiha Sasuke." The black haired noble said curtly, frowning. 'This guy... he is kind of familiar."

"Haruno Sakura." The pink haired girl introduced herself. "Iruka-sensei told us we'll be having somebody joining us. Umm... I'm sorry but... Have we met...?" She said hesitatingly. "You... you just seem kind of familiar."

'So THAT'S why she seemed so familiar.' Naruto thought. 'Now I remember her. Yamanaka girl's little tagalong with a big brain and zero confidence. And apparently an Uchiha fangirl to boot. Damn.'

"We've met." He said curtly, pulling out a cigarette.

"Umm... this is a non-smoking area..." The girl said.

"It is?" He lit his herbal concoction. "Really? I didn't know that."

"Well, there is a plaque..." She trailed off. "So... would you mind...?" She gestured to the cigarette.

"Oh, you want one?" He blinked, pulling out his box.

"No! I..." Her eyes narrowed. "You're making fun of me!" She said accusingly.

'Fast on the uptake, isn't she?' Naruto thought dryly.

"Cigarettes?" The Uchiha snorted with disdain. "Not much of a ninja, are you?"

Naruto shrugged, taking a long drag.

Sakura scowled.

'How can he be so rude! If any of the teachers caught him... What, does he think smoking makes him look cool or something? Sasuke doesn't need to smell like an ashtray to be cool!'

Naruto took off the Jougen from his back, putting the katana in easy reach and grabbed a scroll from his pouch. Seals were a fascinating topic, and he had around two, three hours until the shithead Copy Nin appeared anyway. Might as well get some reading in.

---

"My first impression is..." Kakashi halted for a second, his one visible eye widening slightly at sight of the katana on the desk. "... that you are all brats. Meet me on the roof."

Naruto smirked, closing his book.

'Heh. Uncomfortable, Copy Asshole?'

---

'Meet and greet. I wonder if he does it every time. Probably.'

"...my hobbies. I don't have a dream. More like ambition, to revive my clan and... to kill a certain man."

'Oh, and put more dramatic pause there, you attention whore.' Naruto grimaced inwardly. 'Cold, uninterested demeanor, 'leave me the fuck alone' face but... Couldn't help to deliver this juicy little morsel, could you?'

He sighed.

He supposed he was a little too harsh here. But he was still annoyed with the whole matter. And Uchiha was just so damn convenient target...

As an overangsty bishounen and sliver spoon-fed little 'genius', he was everything he disliked in people. The fact that Sasuke was a symbol put in front of his eyes most of his life with comments how worthless Naruto himself was also played a role.

'Though bishounen looks... Damn. It's not like I have something against bishounens. Mirumoto is as bishounen as they come - the guy is goddamn prettier than most women, for kami's sake! And I have no problem with him!' He frowned. 'Though the fact he kicks ass left and right and is as easy going as they come probably helps.' He decided, thinking about his fellow ANBU lieutenant.

"Naruto. Your turn."

"Uzumaki." The blond looked at the copy nin. "And what for? You already know me so well, don't you?" He said sarcastically.

"They don't." The Copy Nin said curtly. "Don't be difficult, Naruto. Just do it."

"Uzumaki Naruto. Thirteen. I like weapons, my friends, my girlfriends, cigarettes and ramen. Dislikes are people who overestimate their abilities and can't admit their own mistakes." He smiled at Kakashi thinly and the Copy nin just sighed. "Dream? To remain with my friends I guess. I don't have any particular goals beside getting better."

"Hmm. Now that the formalities are out of the way, I will tell you something..." Kakashi began.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

'I knew it He's got that whole routine memorized. It's exactly the same like the one three years ago. Geez, at least go original, you lazy asshole.'

---

"So. Sandaime sent you." Kakashi looked at him, his visible eye apathetic.

"So it seems." Naruto lit a cigarette.

"Cigarettes? I see you've gotten another bad habit." The copy nin sighed. "As long as you remain under my command, I want you to stop."

"Oh do you?" Naruto exhaled the smoke slowly. "And why is that?"

"It cuts your battle ability and the smoke can be felt from the distance." The Copy Nin said curtly. "Besides... Aren't you a little too young for that, Naruto?"

"Uzumaki." Naruto took a drag off his cigarette. "I think I told you not to call me in such a familiar manner, Hatake. If I'm old enough to die for this village, I'm old enough to smoke."

"Not under my command." Kakashi said simply.

"Command?" Naruto chuckled. "And whoever said that I'm under your command, Hatake?"

"Sandaime assigned you to help me watch over Uchiha Sasuke. That means you are even more of my subordinate than the rest of Team 7." The Copy Nin shrugged.

"Actually, bastard, I'm not here to 'help' you at all. You are to lead Team 7 as normal and concentrate on teaching them. Watching over the emo boy is my job. If anything, you are to help me."

"This is ridiculous." Hatake's eye narrowed. "You are a genin, I outrank you several times over."

The spot was secluded and he knew for a fact that there was no one around or his diagnostic jutsu would pick them, so...

"Haven't been keeping up with your ANBU buddies, have you, Hatake?" Naruto asked. "Bad form, bad form all the way, Copycat."

Kakashi wasn't called 'genius' for nothing. His mind quickly caught the meaning behind the words and his eyes widened as everything fell into place.

"You're ANBU." He said, his eye widening.

"You seriously didn't know?" Naruto blinked.

Kakashi just looked at his former student.

"You REALLY didn't." Naruto laughed bitterly. "I should have known. Out of sight, out of mind, eh? You haven't changed at all." He exhaled the smoke. "For your information, jounin... ANBU Operations Division, Operations Team 4 lieutenant."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed even further as he heard the words.

The ANBU smiled pleasantly at the silent Copycat. "From this moment on, the mission of protecting Uchiha Sasuke had been assigned to me. You are ordered by Sandaime-sama to cooperate to the full extent of your abilities, jounin." The blond exhaled smoke lazily.

Kakashi just blinked.

"Not bad for a 'talentless brawler with issues', isn't it?" Naruto smiled sardonically, before using a soundless shunshin to vanish, leaving the Copy Nin to stare at the empty space.

---

Glossary:

Jougen: lit. 1st quarter of the moon, crescent moon.

AN: Some people asked what's the deal with the cigarettes that Naruto smokes nearly constantly. They aren't really cigarettes but rather a very powerful chakra stabilizer, feasible only for someone of jinchuuriki's stamina. It had been made by Tsunade specifically for Naruto. They are needed for the same reason the 'bleed off' procedure is needed. It will be slowly explained why as story progesses. Naruto has a very good reason for being an asshole towards Kakashi, several of good reasons in fact. There is a lot of history between those two that will be shown and none of it good.


	6. Chapter 6

Edited by Skelethin

---

Operator

Chapter 5

"Tests for all."

---

"You're...what?" Naruto said, his eyes wide.

"Getting married." Uzuki sipped her sake calmly.

"Oh." He sat down, dumbly. "That's... well, isn't it kind of sudden?" He said lamely. "I mean, Hayate's Intelligence, you're ANBU captain..."

"Hayate is leaving Intelligence. My tour of duty lasts only till the end of this spring."

"Ah." Naruto nodded slowly. "Man... That's a surprise." He admitted. "Isn't it kind of sudden?"

"Not really." Yuugao shrugged. "We've been talking and... Well, two years is more than long enough. I know Hayate wants kids. So do I. What's the point of drawing this out?"

"When you put it that way..." The blond muttered thoughtfully. "What about your team?"

"I've talked with Sayoko recently and I think she'll make a good captain. Kanna agrees, so there should be no problems there."

"Sayoko, huh?" Naruto frowned. "Not a bad choice."

The violet haired woman nodded.

"Well, all I can say is congratulations you two." The blond smiled. "Damn. I still remember your first meeting... Who would have thought?"

Yuugao blushed lightly.

"We promised not to speak of this again." She hissed with embarrassment.

"But it was such a fu-"

"Not a word, Uzumaki!" She growled.

"Okay, okay!" He raised his arms apologetically. "Not a word. I get it."

They sipped their sake in silence, until Naruto opened his mouth, only to stiffen and relax immediately as a shunshin ended.

"Naruto," coughed a bewildered Hayate. "Lost your mask?"

"Actually, I'm incognito." The blond said dryly. "So I left my face home."

"Ah." The sick-looking man coughed again.

"Hayate... I love you like a brother but... Please, for kami's sake... Go to Haku and get something for that chronic cough."

"Why?" The man coughed again.

"Because it's damn annoying?"

"And to end up with those cigarettes of yours? No thank you." The jounin sat next to his fiancee.

"First off, cigs were not Haku's idea, but Tsunade's." The blond pointed out. "And you've got that chronic cough thing going. I doubt she'd give you high level chakra stabilizers for that."

"I'll pass.." He coughed, eying the katana. "I see you have it with you."

Naruto blinked, before grabbing the sword.

"Sorry." He muttered, getting ready to store the weapon back.

"No." Hayate grabbed his hand. "Don't. It is... good to see it used."

"Okay." Naruto nodded slowly, as Hayate let go of his arm.

"Did Yuugao tell you about the...?"

"Wedding? Yeah. She dropped that on me already." The blond grinned. "Finally making a honest woman out of her, Hayate?"

"As if you're the one to talk."

"I'm kind of young for that." The blond shrugged. "Besides, it's not like I can marry them both anyway."

"Actually, you can." Yuugao took a sip of her sake. "You'd just need to marry Hana first."

"What?" The blond looked at her incredulously.

"Inuzuka are nobles. Multiple-partner marriages are not as common as they used to be, but they happen." The woman said calmly.

"Hana might be a nobility, but I'm not." Naruto pointed out.

"It doesn't matter in that case. The law states that higher status overrides lower. If you married her, you'd have equal status, making you nobility as well. Then you could marry Haku."

"People actually do that?" Naruto said in amazement.

"Pretty much." Yuugao shrugged. "Nidaime Hokage had three wives. Yondaime himself was betrothed to two at one point, if I remember correctly. One from Konoha, the other from Iwa. Obviously for political reasons, but he'd have married them both if not for his untimely death."

"Wow. I didn't know that." Naruto muttered with a frown.

"As I said, it's not common, but it still happens." She turned to Hayate. "And for your sake you'd better NOT be thinking about a second wife, dear."

"Ah... no. No. You're more than enough for me." Hayate coughed. "You're the light of my life, how could I look at another?"

"Good choice of words." The ANBU woman smiled serenely.

"Coward." Naruto grinned at the swordsman.

"Laugh all you want." Hayate looked at him with a smirk. "I'll be the one laughing at your wedding. Loudly."

"Feh. As if." Naruto leaned into his seat. "Inuzuka wouldn't let me marry her and you know it. She's not only a noble, but also the Clan Heiress and I'm the village pariah with a demon in my stomach. I'm amazed I didn't have an official 'delegation' of Inuzuka politely warning me to stay the hell away from her by now. They might tolerate me as things stand, but marriage? No. They won't let it happen."

Yuugao raised one eyebrow.

'That's what you think.' She thought with an inward smirk, remembering her last outing with Tsume and their casual conversation. Almost too casual. With far too many questions about a certain blond. Personal ones. 'That's what you think.'

"Anyway." Hayate coughed. "How about being my best man?"

Naruto blinked owlishly.

"Uh... excuse me?"

---

"Hello, Naruto-sama. How was your day?" Haku smiled as he walked in.

"You know..." Naruto frowned. "I have no idea."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Well I had the meeting with Kakashi and the Team 7, so that's kind of... low point." He muttered. "On the other hand, I've just been asked to be a best man."

Haku blinked.

"On Yuugao and Hatyate's wedding. Both of them."

"Oh my. They are getting married?" Haku said happily. "So Yuugao-san really went through with that."

"Huh?" He looked at her bewildered.

"Naruto-sama... Really." She shook her head with a smile. "Do you honestly think Hayate-san would ask her himself? Don't you remember how they started dating?"

"Oh. Point." He nodded.

Uzuki Yuugao and Gekko Hayate were... well, not enemies, but certainly not friends. Then they had that disastrous mission that ended in a rather bizarre way, with feathers, silk, shredded uniforms and mutual embarrassment. And Hayate blanching each time he saw Yuugao.

Yuugao was a very sensible person. Really. She didn't hold the accident against Hayate. The 'deer in the headlights' look he displayed each time he saw her, on the other hand, she did.

For a rather calm, near emotionless gal, Yuugao could be damn scary when she wanted to.

She decided he needed to get over the fear in a simple and very direct method. She walked to him, cornered him and declared in her normal deadpan that he was to take her on a date and show her a good time. Or else.

It was one of the oddest courtships he had ever witnessed - not that he witnessed a lot of them. But still, the only odder pair he knew of were Kyo and Yashiro.

"Wait. You've spoken with Yuugao about that?" He blinked.

"Well she does come along often." Haku shrugged. "And Hana is not much for girl talk."

"Ain't that the truth." Inuzuka heiress came to the room, a pack over her shoulder. "All that stuff bores me to tears."

"What's with the pack?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Mom's kicking me out. That idiot Shinji wrecked the whole left wing training with Sotorou and I don't exactly have a room anymore. You've got a lot of space so I thought I'd move in."

"Uh... sure, but... Inuzuka compound is damn huge. Why not just take another room in a different wing?" Naruto scratched his neck.

"We've got guests. Some bigwigs from the capital, apparently blood related in some distant way and some frilly little strumpet from Daimyo's court." Hana frowned, clearly irritated. "They commandeered most of the space like you wouldn't believe. I can't believe that mom let them!"

"Nobles?" Haku raised an eyebrow. "That's surprising. And if there is a Lady from Daimyo's court... They don't leave the Court without a very good reason."

"It better not be some kind of omiai, or somebody will be in a world of hurt." Growled the Inuzuka heiress.

"Omiai?" Naruto and Haku looked at each other bewildered.

"Granny and aunty Sanae had been harping around for the past year that I need to 'uphold the Inuzuka name' and 'do my duty'. Meaning a marriage to some noble fuck I've never even met." She scowled. "As if!"

"Isn't your clan more free-wheeling about that stuff?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "From what I remember, you told me your clan intermarries with commoners regularly and it's no big deal."

"Yeah. But I'm the heiress." Hana grimaced. "Besides, they've been complaining that as an ANBU, my life is dangerous and I could die any moment. Bro is going to be a ninja too, so they want me to at least secure the family line." She growled. "That and they say I'll be an old maid if I don't marry soon." A vein bulged on her forehead. "Old maid! Can you imagine that? I'm barely seventeen, for kami's sake!"

"Ah... Hana... For a noble family you are well into marriage age." Haku said carefully. "Nobles usually marry young and tend to have a child or two well before hitting their early twenties."

"Oh HELL no!" Hana scowled. "Besides, I'm bonded to the blondie anyway. Not like I can marry someone else even if I wanted to."

Naruto blinked.

"Bonded?"

Hana froze, blanching.

'Oh... crap...'

---

"So... We are... 'bonded'." Naruto said slowly.

"Yeah." Hana nodded miserably.

"For good."

"Yeah."

"Permanently."

"Yeah."

"And that means..."

"Yeah." Hana hung her head.

"Oh." Naruto looked at Hana, blinking owlishly. "I think I need a drink."

"Yeah."

Haku smiled serenely, putting two bowls of first grade alcohol before them and pouring herself a third.

"Kampai!" She said cheerfully.

"Cheerful, ain't she?" Hana muttered.

"Yup."

"Why, we shall be even closer now. Isn't it a reason enough for happiness?" Haku blinked innocently.

Hana and Naruto just stared.

"Have I told you that that girl sincerely scares me sometimes?" Hana said to Naruto seriously.

"Don't worry." He patted her shoulder. "There are times she scares me too."

"Ah. Good to know."

In unison, they chugged their alcohol without a blink.

Haku smiled faintly.

'I wonder if they noticed the service they are drinking from?' Haku thought with amusment. 'Uzumaki Haku... Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Inuzuka wouldn't be bad as well...'

They wouldn't get married right away, of course. But something more official would be nice. Naruto-sama needed some stability and it would be rather nice...

'I must thank Yuugao-san somehow.' She thought with a giggle.

Hana and Naruto ignored the odd shiver going down their backs and just poured themselves another shot.

---

"I am beginning to utterly hate that man."

The utter calm of the delivered phrase made Naruto's stand on his neck. Even Kazuya, usually too proud to even admit something like fear existed for him, halted his kunai-sharpening.

Being the hot-blooded, rash and brash type, Saya was NEVER calm. Or rather she was never calm unless she planned bloody murder. She also never used proper, ladylike language and grammar forms. When she slipped into that and stopped using contractions, it meant she was pissed off beyond belief.

The appearing cloud of smoke interrupted Naruto's slow descent into terror.

"Yo." Single visible eye was upturned in Hatake's version of a cheerful smile. "Sorry I was late, I got lost on the road of life."

Naruto slowly backed away from the clearing as Saya got up, carefully dusting off her silks with dainty, ladylike moves.

Kazuya dropped his kunai along with pretenses and started to back off from the vicinity of the soon-to-be-dead jounin.

"Kakashi-dono..." The dulcet tone was sweet, sacharinne and worthy of the best geisha. "You should not have worried over us. Verily, is it not learner's duty to await patiently for the wisdom of their teacher?"

Naruto blanched.

Flowery speech... Lack of contractions. Saya was going for a meltdown all right.

Even Kakashi must have noticed the creepy vibes going off from Saya.

"Right..." He blinked as she giggled softly, her mouth hidden behind her hand demurely. "Anyway, the test is to get those," he showed two small bells, "from me until the time limit expires." He took a small hourglass from his pocket and put it on the stone.

"Ara, ara?" Saya's eyes were wide, her face a picture of polite confusion "Forgive this unworthy one... But there seem to be only two bells, Kakashi-dono."

Kazuya went pale and started to lift his katana with his thumb every few seconds, creating maddening, whiny sound as the steel clacked and moved from the scabbard and back, which meant he was getting really agitated. Only at this revelation Naruto noticed that his hands were unconsciously trying to form first seal of the Kawarimi.

Kakashi, meanwhile, was digging himself a bigger hole with each second without a care in the world.

"Precisely." He said cheerfully. "I advise you to come with the intent to kill, otherwise, you will fail."

"Oh..." Both hands went to Saya's face, as she put on a look of scandalized agitation that wouldn't be out of place in Fire Coutry Daimyo's court. "But, we might hurt you..."

Kakashi's smile got a little wider and Naruto could actually see the mask stretching a little to accompany the eye.

"Don't worry about m-" The explosion took even Kazuya and Naruto by surprise, and they were ready for it.

The debris, dust and broken earth from Saya's punch obscured the spot Kakashi was barely a second before.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-dono..." Kazuya raised an eyebrow, surveying the devastation. "SHE won't." He said gesturing at the figure carefully brushing off her silks.

Kakashi stood few meters away, judging from his bugged eye, seriously freaked, his hands still in seal ending Kawarimi no Jutsu.

"Ara ara... Kakashi-dono... It is not nice to leave woman's presence with such haste... She might feel unwanted. And not saying goodbye is so dreadfully impolite." Saya admonished demurely.

"You should not do that, Kakashi-dono. Although it pains this unworthy one to chastise one as august as you, you seem to lack some crucial manners. Please, allow me to educate you."

Saya's eyes lit with the familiar insane glint as she entered the Stalking Tiger, her favorite version of Koken, snapping her arms in a fast, circular move that revealed the spiked forearm guards she had under her silk blouse.

"Kakashi-dono..." She said softly, the energy backlash accompanying the release of Initial Gate washed over the training area as her mouth contorted into a frighteningly cold mockery of a polite smile that was Saya's version of a berserker snarl. "Please... Just die for me?"

---

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he stiffened, before relaxing.

'Memories... Huh?' He thought surveying the familiar training ground. 'This place... It didn't change at all.'

He looked at the memorial stone, his mouth tightening as he read the lines of names, lacking that single, lone name

'Hero memorial... what a bunch of crap!' He snorted, turning away. 'No place for failiures, isn't it, you bastards? Fucking hypocrites.'

He reached for a cigarette with a sigh.

'I shouldn't have taken this mission. It was stupid. Even this place... This stupid place...' He lit the herbal concoction. 'No backing out now, though.' He looked at the memorial. "Don't worry. I won't fail. I gave my word, after all. And I always keep it. Always." He muttered. "Sooner or later... Yeah. Just wait until then."

He took a long drag, rising an eyebrow as he felt two chakra signatures closing in slowly.

'Wool gathering is over, it seems. Just as well. Being introspective... Not me at all.' His lips quirked a faint smile. 'Mission... start.'

---

"Where is he?!" Sakura muttered angrily. 'Honestly! It's just like the last time! Three hours late... Is he really a jounin?'

Not that she minded spending time alone with Sasuke-kun, but...

'Well, almost alone.' She frowned.

Uzumaki sat on the ground, engrossed in his book, yet another of his seemingly endless supply of those strange smelling cigarettes in his mouth.

'What is he, eating that smoke?' She thought with irritation. 'Each time I see him, he always smokes. And he's rude too. Though...' She looked at the blond discretely. 'He is so familiar. I know I've seen him somewhere before but... He said he's older, so maybe I remember him from the academy. Maybe Kakashi-sensei will know? Those two seem to know each other.'

"Want something, Haruno?"

She blinked.

"You've been staring at me for quite some time now. Want something?" He closed his book, putting it into the pouch on his back.

"Ah.. No. I just... I'm not sure..." She gave him an apologetic smile. "But... I seem to remember you. We... Have we met? In the Academy, I mean. I know that you graduated a year earlier since you're thirteen but..."

The blond opened his mouth..

'Finally.' He sighed as a poof of Shunshin announced Kakashi's presence.

"Yo." Kakashi's eye smiled. "I got lost on the road of life."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

'He REALLY has this whole thing memorized. He has to. Goddamn, you, can't you go original for once you asshole?'

---

He could have mentioned the whole 'bell test' thing to his 'team'. Sure. But there was no point.

He didn't know how Haruno compared, but he read enough about Sasuke and he knew the type. Unless the Uchiha learned of the vast gap between himself and the jounin, he'd never agree to cooperate with the rest of them.

'Well, at least they didn't try to face him head on.' He sighed.

"Shouldn't you be hiding, Naruto?" The jounin said cheerfully.

"Uzumaki, bastard. Uzumaki." The blond said with annoyance. "Honestly, is your memory going, Copycat?"

The jounin arched an eyebrow. "Are you planning on facing me head on?"

"Do I look suicidal to you?" Naruto exhaled the smoke and threw the remnants of the cigarette away. "I've just been waiting to finish my smoke."

The copycat sighed.

"I think I told you to stop." He muttered. "You know, you won't be able to hide now. The fresh remnants of smoke clings to you and will for some time." Kakashi's eye upturned in his version of a cheerful smile. "I have almost as good sense of smell as a member of the Inuzuka Clan. You won't be able to hide, Naruto."

"Sure, sure, whatever you say." The blond waved his arm dismissively, heading for the trees lazily. "And it's Uzumaki to you, asshole."

"Naruto." The blond turned at Kakashi's voice. "You know this test. Unless they figure it out on their own... You can't interfere."

The blond just shrugged, before walking into the shrubs.

Kakashi's eye widened.

'His scent... Vanished? But...'

He nodded to himself slowly.

'Seems like you learned a few things, Naruto.' He smiled under his mask. 'This just might be interesting.'

---

Naruto palmed his face as he watched the effects of Kakashi using Shinju Zanshu on Sasuke.

'That moron! Facing a jounin head on?' He hung his head. 'Does he lack self-preservation instincts or something?' Naruto rubbed his temples. 'And I'm to protect him? With him cheerfully rushing to face dangers without care in the world, Orochimaru is going to be the least of my problems! Goddamit! Such a troublesome brat to guard...'

He looked at the unconscious girl next to him.

'And that Haruno... One little genjutsu and she falls to pieces. And it wasn't even a C-level one. Geez...'

He loosened Jougen in its scabbard.

'No way around it, I guess...'

Kakashi's in the clearing... I can't retrieve Sasuke. I thought he would come here looking for me, but that's not his style at all. Lazy bastard.' The blond frowned. 'I can't retrieve Sasuke like that and time is running out quickly. Still, with Kakashi in the clearing... Hmm... But... There are ways around it.' He smirked. 'Let's give you an incentive, shall we?'

---

Kakashi looked up from his Icha Icha.

'Oh? Naruto, hmm? Playing bait?' He closed the book. 'Drawing me into his own territory, which means traps and surprise tactics. But the trap is useless if somebody springs it on his own leisure.' He shook his head, performing a Shunshin. 'You've still got a lot to learn.'

---

'Go after me, Hatake. Run after me. The other me, that is.' Naruto grinned, grabbing Sakura. 'Because if you're so far away, I can perform the Shunshin without you sensing it. And get all of the side benefits.'

With a single seal, he was off.

---

'As I thought, traps. But... There is something off about them. I can't quite place it, but...' Kakashi frowned, before halting.

"Hmm...?" He turned to look at the blond stranding on the branch. "Weren't you the one that said he has no suicidal tendencies, Naruto?"

"Uzumaki, bastard. U.ZU.MA.KI." Naruto sighed. "If you keep calling me so familiarly, I think I'll finally snap."

"Your lack of patience hasn't changed. I thought ANBU would cure that. But it seems I was wrong."

Kakashi settled into a loose stance as Naruto drew his katana with a snort before leaping into attack.

---

"Yo."

Sasuke glared at the blond.

"I see you got stuck." Naruto drew his katana. "Don't move. I'll get you out."

"I don't need your help!" Sasuke hissed, struggling to get out of the trap.

"Oh shut up." Naruto rolled his eyes. "And unless you want to get cut, be still."

Grinding his teeth, Sasuke none the less ceased his struggle.

The blond cocked his head.

"Hmm. The ground seems weaker to the side. Probably the side effect of the dig. Okay." He raised the katana.

Sasuke frowned.

'What is he...?'

Naruto swept the sword in a strong strike, digging deep into the ground and then drawing a circle around Sasuke with two arcing slashes.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he felt the earth around his limbs loosen.

'No way... This... Was it strength?' He blinked. 'No. There would be gouges, but the earth is looser. How?'

"Well?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Sasuke grunted, digging himself out now that the ground was looser.

"You... What kind of jutsu did you use?" He demanded, shaking off the dirt.

"Not a jutsu, Uchiha. Vibration." Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw the dirt fall away from the sword without Naruto moving the hand even an inch. It was minute, almost unnoticeable but the blade was vibrating ever so slightly.

"How do you do that?" He said with narrowed eyes.

"If you have a weapon that can channel chakra, a little vibration is nothing." The blond shrugged.

'I see. Chakra blade.' Sasuke thought with disappointment. 'A pity. That kind of jutsu might have been useful.' He frowned. 'But where did a genin get a chakra blade? Those are expensive. Very expensive.'

"Muuh... SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura jumped up, awaking from her forceful slumber.

She blinked as she saw both Naruto and Sasuke in front of her, looking at her with bewilderment.

"SASUKE-KUN!" She squealed. "You're alive! I was so worried!" She sniffled. "I thought... I saw..."

"So that's what he used. Clever bastard." Naruto chuckled, before stiffening. 'Already? Damn. I overestimated the time!'

"Okay. Enough. Since we are all together now, we can do it right." He turned to the genin candidates. "I-"

He cursed as he felt Kakashi's shunshin.

"Time's up!" Kakashi's eye upturned cheerfully.

Naruto looked at the hourglass on the tombstone and his eyes widened a fraction.

'That bastard... It seems he DID change things, after all.'

Kakashi looked at him calmly and Naruto smiled mirthlessly.

'So you can go original, Copycat. This round goes to you.'

---

"For the two of you... there is no need to go back to the academy."

Sakura started smiling, her inner self dancing a happy jig even as the ropes chaffed her hips and wrists.

'Seriously, he didn't need to do it so tightly!' She thought with irritation. 'Well, at least we pas-

"You should quit being ninja. Right here. Right now."

'We... Failed...?' Sakura thought dumbly. "B-but... Quit?"

'I knew it. Hindrances. Even that new guy.' Sasuke snorted. 'Useless.'

"You shouldn't be so happy, Sasuke." Kakashi's apathetic eye looked at the Uchiha. "One of the two who should quit... Is you."

Sasuke froze, looking at the jounin incredulously.

'But I fought him! I almost HAD those bells! Sakura got knocked out at once, and that guy... He didn't even fight!'

With a snarl he reached for his kunai, sending several at Kakashi before grabbing another, lunging at the jounin.

Naruto sighed as Kakashi effortlessly avoided the projectile and grabbed Sasuke's wrist mid-stab, redirecting the momentum and sending him to the ground, his foot on Uchiha's back, both of the boy's hands locked under the heel of the jounin's sandal.

"And that's why I told you to quit." Kakashi said lazily.

"At... least.. I... am not a COWARD." Sasuke spat angrily, trying to to slip away from the uncomfortable hold.

"Coward?" The jounin leaned forward. "Is it cowardice to hide from a superior opponent? Hmm? And that's what shinobi do, you know. Hide. Plan." He drawled. "Not attack a vastly superior opponent head on unless they have any other choice." His gaze hardened. "You two... Why do you think you were divided into teams of three? Why do you think you are doing this exercise? Do you know the answer to that?"

Sakura blinked.

"Answer...?"

'Here we go...' Naruto thought, lighting a fresh cigarette with a sigh.

"The answer... is teamwork." Kakashi said seriously. "The three of you working together could have gotten the bells."

"But... You're a jounin. And you defeated Sasuke-kun. What would that help?" Sakura said hesitantly.

"In theory, a well coordinated group of three people should be enough to bring down even a vastly superior opponent." Naruto said lazily. "That's why genin are divided into teams of three. With proper strategy, tactics and teamwork, three genin should equal one jounin. Theoretically."

The pink haired girl frowned, before her eyes widened.

"But... Teamwork doesn't help here! There are only two bells!" She shouted. "Even if we get them, one of us will still fail!"

"Naturally." Kakashi shrugged. "The test was designed to see if you can put away the personal concerns for the sake of the mission." He shook his head, looking at Sasuke.

"Instead of gathering knowledge and support, you assumed others will get in the way and went for frontal assault. That's not how a ninja fights." He turned to Sakura. "You just started to look for Sasuke right away, not even bothering to set traps or looking for Naruto despite the fact that searching for Naruto would be better. I doubt you'd find him, but since you knew that Sasuke was next to me, Naruto would be a safer choice. Instead you went for Sasuke without a thought. You two... Quit. As ninja you two are worthless."

"But.. but...!" Sakura protested, before blinking. "Two of us?"

"Well it's not like I can demote an actual ninja, now can I?" Kakashi shrugged, before letting Sasuke go.

Sakura's eyes widened and Saskue scowled, dusting himself off as he looked as the blond.

"Individual ability is important, but teamwork even more so. As Naruto said, you are divided into teams for a reason. If there is no teamwork, one action by a disruptive individual can mean failure and death. Just like that." Suddenly he grabbed Sasuke, putting Kunai to his neck. "Naruto! Kill Sakura or Sasuke dies!"

The blond's eye twitched as Sakura yelped.

'That bastard...! He's making fun of me!' His teeth gritted.

"See?" Kakashi sighed. "Mistakes can be made. Hostages can be taken, and suddenly people around you die. Life of a ninja means you'll be constantly facing difficult decisions and death. You will be risking your life constantly. That's what it means to be shinobi." He let go of Sasuke turning to the memorial. "Look at the names on this stone. The names... All of them are recognized as her-"

Kakashi stiffened as he felt a sharp stab of raw killer intent and turned quickly to see two pools of blue glaring at him.

'Oh. Now that is new.' Kakashi thought, his eye getting a little bit wider.

"Don't you dare to finish that spiel, Copycat. Not a word." Naruto's voice wasn't the old, raw fury from three years before. It was cold, focused and almost emotionless save for overwhelming certainty that he would act on his words. He knew that dead tone well from his time in ANBU.

'Still with that old grudge, I see...' The Copy Nin sighed.

"I'm giving you one more chance." He looked at Team 7. "But this time, I'm going to make it harder. Just so you know. You may eat the lunch that I left behind. But don't you dare to give any to Sakura. It is her punishment for falling prey to a basic genjutsu like she did."

The pink haired girl hung her head in shame.

"If you give her food, I'll fail you immediately. Got it?" The jounin cautioned. "I'll be back soon. Eat and rest a little." He 'poofed' away with a shunshin.

Naruto frowned.

'Erased his presence... Unless I do a full active sweep I won't be able to find him. Damn... I know he's here! Bastard. Hate to admit it, but he's very good.' He scowled, before cutting Sakura away from the pole.

"But... But what are you doing?!" She shrieked. "Kakashi-sensei...! He..!"

"...Never said anything about leaving you bound." Naruto said calmly. "If we left you tied, you would be all cramped and stiff and wouldn't be able to help us much in that state." He explained patiently.

"Oh..." Sakura said in a small voice, rubbing her wrists.

Naruto gave a sideways glance to Sasuke who was holding his lunch and staring at the two of them with a frown.

'Come on, Uchiha.' The blond thought. 'Work with me here. Teamwork. I cut her off because she would be a hindrance if she lacked the full combat capability... Come on! If you're half as smart as they suggest you are...'

"Here." Sasuke said curtly, giving part of his lunch to Sakura. "Eat."

'And who says sessions with a shrink can't help you?' Naruto smirked. 'I think I owe Sanae a present just for that.'

"S-S-Sasuke...kun?" Sakura's eyes were wider than saucers. Even her inner self was completely silent. "B-but...! Y-You..." She blushed fiercely. "You really..."

"If you're hungry, you won't be of any use to us, that's all." The Uchiha snapped.

"But...! He will fail y-"

"I can't sense him anywhere. He must have left." Sasuke shrugged.

'Yeah, because a genin can sense an elite level jounin who wants to hide no problem.' Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Seriously, Uchiha. What planet are you from?'

"Oh..." She nodded. 'Sasuke... SO COOL!' Her Inner Self swooned.

There was a rapid explosion of an overpowered shunshin.

"YOU GUYS...!" bellowed the outraged Copycat.

Sakura shrieked, though Naruto noticed with amusement that she clutched her bento, instead of dropping it. Sasuke glared at the jounin.

"...pass!" Kakashi finished cheerfully.

'Script. Definitely script. I can fucking BET on it!' The blond thought with a twitching eyebrow.

---

'Well, that was a real waste of time.' Naruto sighed, lighting a cigarette and stretching. 'Though that fight with my Kage Bunshin... I wonder if Kakashi knows I dispelled it on purpose? Damn. Even fighting without his sharingan, with both of us holding back, there is still such a gap... I thought I'd catch up to him, but it seems I was wrong.'

Naruto blinked, looking at Sakura.

"Huh?" He said eloquently.

"Umm... Could you tell us something? About Kakashi-sensei, I mean?" She repeated her previous question. "I mean... He didn't exactly tell us anything and you two seem to know each other and..."

"You knew the answers to the test." Sasuke said bluntly. "How?"

"Kakashi used to be my commander after graduation. He uses the same test each time." Naruto shrugged.

"So why didn't you tell us?" Uchiha's black eyes narrowed. "He could have failed us! If we knew before hand-"

"First off, he forbade me to. Second... What would you do? Team up from the start? I don't think so. Until Kakashi handed you your ass without breaking a sweat, me and Hanuro here were just hindrances to you. You needed to see us as useful resource and allies first."

"If I knew you were under his command beforehand I-!"

"Had you even bothered to ASK?" Naruto snapped. "You had all the data you needed. You KNEW I was older, I said as much during the introduction and I wasn't in your class, meaning I graduated earlier. It was a safe bet to assume I already was a genin, with at least a year of experience under my belt. You had hints I knew Kakashi beforehand from our interaction. Yet you didn't even bother to do an elementary thing and gather necessary data at all, preferring to go for the glorious frontal assault almost at once." He said dryly.

"Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" Sakura snapped at the blond.

Naruto shook his head with exasperation.

"Forget it." He muttered, before looking at the two irritated genin. "About tomorrow's meeting - you can come at least hour and a half later than the time Kakashi gave you. He's never on time and usually about two hours late."

Sasuke's eyes widened as the blond vanished in a poof of smoke.

'Shunshin...?!' He thought incredulously. 'And... Damn but it was fast! It took more chakra than my Goukyaku no jutsu!'

The blond was annoying and something about him just rubbed Sasuke in the wrong way, but if he really was as experienced as he suggested...

'This Team 7... It might be actually worth it.' The Uchiha scion thought grudgingly. 'At least they aren't all completely useless.'

"Sasuke-k-"

"No." The Uchiha snapped curtly, his eyebrow twitching.

'Almost.'

---

AN: I will only say this once - none of my stories, unless I say so, are dead or on hiatus or anything similar. That there is a gap between updates, or that one story or other goes longer without updates than others doesn't mean a thing. It gets done when it gets done.


	7. Chapter 7

Edited by Skelethin

---

Operator

Chapter 6

"Form."

---

'...once the channel is open on the outside there is a diffusion reaction that must be...' Naruto groaned. 'I don't get this AT ALL!'

He sighed, closing the book. He was SO damn sure he was ready to attack that particular topic. He mastered the lower arts up to a low-level B-class seals, for kami's sake!

But as he found out, the higher tier was not as simple as that. It wasn't a simple step up in complexity - it was a whole another level of understanding. He'd been sweating trying to crack it for the past month.

"ARRGGHH!" He slammed the book shut. "Fuck it...! I stop seeing meaning behind the letters or symbols the longer I read this. I need a break."

The blond got up, cracking his neck and stretching to work the kinks out. He didn't want to come so early, but Haku had left for the hospital, Hana left to run some errands and he was left all alone with nothing to do.

'Geez... I'm a workaholic.' He sighed. 'Sad but true. Barely four days out of job... And I have nothing to do.'

Well, he could train.

But he didn't want to right now. Besides, he still felt that post-Kyoushin buzz. He didn't want to ruin it quite yet.

He couldn't hang out with Kyo since the perv locked himself in his home with Yashiro and they refused to come out of bed unless they had to eat.

'Sex fiends.' Naruto scowled.

Tenrou was was tort- er, training Shuichi.

Hayate was working overtime to finish his last days at the Intel and leave everything clear cut for his successor. Or as clear cut as Intel ever was.

Yuugao was out on a mission with her team. Kurenai had her genin brats to babysit. And Kanna forbade him from dropping by his office and putting the paperwork in order.

The nice, relaxing book proved to be frustrating (as it always was) even when he had some free time to read it.

'Great.' Naruto hung his head. 'What the hell do I do now?'

He had about an hour free. Too early to drink. He wasn't hungry. He couldn't go to have fun since the damn Copycat would nag...

'Not that I care.' The ANBU smirked. 'Now that would be... huh?'

He blinked turning to the side.

'What the hell is she doing here?'

"Yo!" Hana grinned walking up to the blond. "How is it goin'?"

"Aside from the fact the book is as frustrating as always, not any different than an hour ago when we saw each other." He said dryly. "Didn't you have an errand to run?"

"I did. I do." She waved a sealed folder. "And you're a part of it, oh vice-captain of mine."

Naruto looked with the mild disgust at the paperwork, before raising an eyebrow.

"Relax." Hana waved her hand dismissively. "Nobody around."

"I know. But still..." He scowled. "For the want of the horseshoe, and all that."

"Yeah, yeah." She muttered. "Now come on. Let's swing by home to get our armor. We have an official visit to make."

"I've got a team meeting in..."

"...an hour. It won't take that long." She said impatiently. "Come on. We'll be late if we don't hurry."

Naruto sighed and performed a Shunshin.

---

"Okay." He closed the folder. "This is ridiculous."

"Not nearly as much as you think." Hana shook her head while putting on the armor. "Help me with the back clasp, would you?" She paused thoughtfully. "And I wouldn't mind a good grope, too."

Naruto sighed, palming his face.

But complied.

Hana smirked.

"I've trained you well." She said sagely. "Do you give massages, too?"

"We'll see." He grinned "Behave, you randy bitch or you'll get a spanking."

"Ooooh... Baby... Don't tease me like that!" She cooed. "Please! Your sexy bitch needs it!"

A year ago he would have sputtered and blushed. Now he just got hot under the collar a little.

A little.

Really.

Okay. He still looked like a glazed eyed moron. Happy?

"Heh. Gotcha!" She turned and gave him a kiss. "Still getting bent out of shape after all that. I guess Anko's right."

"That, was dirty." He said sullenly. "And don't try to change the subject. I still think this idea is utterly ridiculous."

"No matter how... odd the orders might be, he IS the Hokage. And we are ANBU. Ours is NOT to question. Ours is to listen and comply." She shrugged. "Besides, admit it. He is rarely wrong. And he wouldn't have done that without a very good reason."

"And that's what worries me." Naruto frowned. "What kind of reason would there be for inducing the genin... genin - shit, she's a DAY out of the Academy! - to the Operations team? Much less our team? If she won't be dead after the first mission it'd be a fucking miracle!"

"You were a genin when you started. And far younger than her." Hana pointed out.

"Hana, god-fucking-dammit, it's not the SAME!" He rolled his eyes. "I was a genin, yeah. Green, inexperienced and shit. The main difference is I was a genin capable of doing the Shunshin several times in a row. I was a genin with more chakra than any chuunin in the village. I am a fucking jinchuuriki capable of regenerating several what should be mortal wounds." Naruto glared at her. "The Yamanaka girl? Come on! You saw her file! Chakra level of a typical academy-level kunoichi. Meaning CRAP. Good control, yeah I admit it. Only she doesn't know the first thing to do with it. She knows the three basic academy jutsu. And her family one that is USELESS for anything other than infiltration purposes. Face it - once she's in, she's dead meat. Look at our other rookie. She was an experienced chuunin with, as much as I hate to admit it, above average capability. Now she's in a fucking COMA after a first serious mission. The Yamanaka? We'll be bringing home a corpse the first time we go out. End of story."

"Wow." Hana looked at him with astonishment. "You friends with that girl or something? Because..."

"I just don't like seeing teammates die and you damn well know it." He snapped, turning away and glaring at the wall. "I refuse to see another one killed in front of my eyes."

"Naruto. Hun." She sighed, embracing him and melding her body to his as close as it was possible, feeling his tension.

She nuzzled his neck affectionately. It was a pity Haku was out - she was excellent at calming Naruto down with the simplest of gestures. Not that Hana minded. She loved being close to him like this.

"I know. I'm sorry. But those are Hokage's orders. Kanna-chan agrees, so there must be a valid reason. And it's now like we will be throwing her to the wolves or something. We've got nearly four months to work with her. Either we make her, or we break her, 'kay?"

"Four months... She'd need a good teacher. A very good and ruthless teacher." Naruto muttered, his face nuzzling Hana's hair. Her scent always calmed him down. Probably something to do with that 'bonding' she talked about. "Somebody that will know when to push her and how hard without breaking her. Yashiro won't teach her. Kyo is a long range specialist, so he's out. Tenrou would break her outright. I can't - I have my hands full and if the Copy Asshole still 'teaches' like he used to, I'll probably have to take care of it. Yamanaka isn't the line combat type so you're out. Shit. Maybe Kurenai? No. She's got her own brats to take care of..."

"Actually... Kanna-chan kind of decided on a personal trainer for her already." Hana grinned, a sinister gleam in her eye.

---

'And that, as Naruto-sama says, would be that.' Haku filled out the last of her paperwork with her neat, elegant writing and reached for the day planner.

'Now, let's see if I have... nothing?' She blinked. 'Now that's odd.'

"Yuka." She called to one of the junior medics. "Do I have any appointments set for today? Because the planner seems to be empty..."

"No, Haku-sama. Most of the patients were already taken care of and the staff in the emergency ward is on duty, so it seems you are free." The girl, no older than Haku herself really, said with a smile.

"Oh." Haku frowned. "Somehow I thought I had more patients for some reason."

"Well..." Yuka coughed. "You kind of had... But they... kind of checked themselves out?" She said weakly.

Haku frowned, before rubbing her temples.

"Let me guess, Team 4?"

"Yes, Haku-sama." Yuka said with embarrassment, flushing brightly.

"Ah. I should have known that they didn't get their leaves in a proper way." Haku muttered.

"Shall I issue a medical recall order for them, Haku-sama?"

"No. That won't be necessary. They are mostly all right anyway." She smiled. "Thank you for your good job, Yuka."

"Any time, Haku-sama." The brown haired girl beamed, walking out of Haku's office.

'Hmm... Free time.' The kunoichi smiled, grabbing a large bento. 'Might as well give Naruto-sama his lunch a little earlier. Knowing him, he hardly had any proper breakfast.' She shook her head with a gentle smile.

A brief Shunshin later, she was out.

---

As much as she hated to admit it, Uzumaki was right.

'Where is that jounin?! He's almost two hours LATE! I'll strangle him, that one-eyed bastard!' Her inner self raged. 'And that Uzumaki... He's not better than that damn Hatake-bastard! Where the hell is he?!'

For once Outer Sakura agreed with her Inner self. Not that she called her that, really. It was just that odd 'voice' she sometimes heard. She wasn't crazy.

She just had a voice in her head. Sakura blamed it on Ino training her Shintenshin on her anyway.

At any other time, she might have been ecstatic to spend nearly two hours with her crush, but this time, she was silent and didn't try to use her 'womanly charms' on the Uchiha scion.

Sasuke just sat on the branch and glowered.

There was a palpable aura of hostility surrounding him, despite his impassive visage.

But his visage wasn't impassive. Not really.

Why, Ino and Sakura compiled the 'subtle expressions and sexy grunts of Uchiha Sasuke' when they were still at the Academy. She was a consummate expert at Sasuke-watching.

It was that hard earned expertise that told her that approaching the Uchiha was... inadvisable. Even if she was his destined soulmate.

'No matter! I might sacrifice now, but love will PREVAIL!' She cheered herself up mentally. Or her 'voice' cheered her up anyway.

Such a useful sweetie she was, really.

'HELL YEAH! NUMBER ONE, BABY! Yours tru-ly!'

Sakura giggled.

Sasuke stopped his brooding for a fraction of a second, actually throwing an odd look toward his pink-haired teammate who was giggling for no apparent reason, before he went back to his glowering.

'I feel... A disturbance in the force...' Inner Sakura muttered, unusually calm and freaked.

Sakura blinked.

'Huh?'

There was a polite cough behind her and Sakura yelped, jumping.

"DON'T DO THAT TO ME UZ-u...maki?" Sakura trailed off as her eyes widened.

"Um... You don't look like Uzumaki...?"

She was... exquisite. There was no other word to describe her.

Taller than Sakura, her figure was slender but undoubtedly that of a woman. Very much of a woman, if a young one. Still older than Sakura, though. Her skin was pale and delicate, her face classically beautiful with warm and kind eyes. Clad in a simple white kimono with a loose black sash, she looked like a picture perfect image of a noblewoman on a stroll, refinement and gentle poise radiating from her features.

Suddenly, Sakura felt very small, very plain and her forehead seemed just so... grotesque and her dress so barbaric and loud comparing to the quiet refinement of the beauty before her.

"Oh no. Not yet, anyway." The woman smiled with amusement. "But thank you all the same. You are too kind."

"Ah... Well... It was nothing... huh?" Sakura blinked again.

'Yes... now that was just SO eloquent.' her Inner self grumbled. 'Make an even bigger idiot out of yourself, why won't you.'

"Ah, but it was still kind. By your comment I take it this is the genin Team 7, am I right? Can you tell me where can I find Uzumaki Naruto?"

"...Huh?"

"Oh. How impolite of me. I'm so dreadfully sorry." The woman smiled with embarrassment. "Good morning, kunoichi-san. I am Haku." She bowed.

"Haruno Sakura, Haku-san. Nice to meet you." Sakura bowed back, formally. She didn't know why, but there was just something damn... calming about the girl that made her flash back to her lessons about court behavior.

"Good morning to you too, Uchiha-dono." Haku bowed to the Uchiha heir who was oddly stiff as he looked at her.

To Sakura's amazement, Sasuke jumped of the branch and made a formal, if brief bow.

A polite one.

Inner Sakura and Outer one could only blink owlishly as the 'guide to Uchiha Sasuke' had just been shattered to pieces.

---

Sasuke was a noble.

A noble from a mostly dead clan, but a noble none the less.

Some things had been taught to him almost from the time he could speak. Protocol, manners, proper forms for every situation... And the art of making small talk. A somewhat... rusty art, yes.

He would admit that himself. He was an antisocial asshole. Kiba would probably die from shock when he heard that Sasuke actually agreed with that.

He was.

Sasuke simply didn't care.

Only things he cared about was killing Itachi and rebuilding the Uchiha Clan. Nothing else mattered. Social niceties could go and screw themselves.

Unfortunately, some of the 'proper forms' had been all but bred into him and he responded to them almost instinctively. The girl... a young woman, really, had the presence that made those half-forgotten patterns come to light almost immediately.

Still, it wasn't like he minded, really.The young woman was polite, refined and, above all, not a fangirl. She was calm and a little bit reserved, though not to the point of being cold like the Hyuuga preferred. But that was refreshing after all the loudmouths or fawning fangirls competing for his attention in the academy with their inane chatter and voices so glazed with sacharine sweetness that they made him want to puke.

As much as he wanted his clan rebuilt and knowing he would have to take a wife (or rather wives in his case) to sire some children, he was sure of one thing. He would never, ever, marry one of his fangirls. It was too horrible a fate to contemplate, really.

So he usually avoided the girls like a plague, trying to outmaneuver them in the academy and lose them once they started following him around to 'meet him accidentally'.

But as he almost unconsciously slipped into the half-forgotten forms, courtesies and patterns all but beat into him during his childhood, he found to his astonishment he didn't mind.

As polite as Haku was, she was reserved and formal just enough for Sasuke to sense the 'do not cross' barrier that surrounded her like a barely visible veil. It was something he knew well from his childhood from the higher ranked Uchiha ladies. That formal reserve, the quiet refinement... After the fangirls, it was most soothing and he had to admit, that the familiar feeling of refined aloofness was... nostalgic. In a good way.

Haku gazed at the sky briefly with a small frown.

"Ah, how impolite of me..." She said, slightly embarrassed. "Haruno-san, Uchiha-san, are you thirsty by any chance?" she asked pulling a small scroll from her belt.

She unrolled it and quickly snapped a seal and three bottles full of juice appeared on the ground.

'This is... so fast and almost no chakra backlash!' Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction. 'This is a B-class storage/retrieval type. A custom one, at that. No doubt about it. She's not only a kunoichi... But actually crafts her own seals? Interesting...'

"Oh, thank you Haku-san!" Sakura smiled gratefully, trying to cover the unease she was feeling.

Watching her crush speak with the odd woman... It was torture. Not because they spoke much, no. It was just a few words, some pleasantries.

Still, this was Uchiha Sasuke!

And he was POLITE. Not just aloof, but actually polite and talking on his OWN.

Barely more than a few words, but still...

And watching them together... They just looked so perfect! Like a prince and a princess of the Court. They looked just so... so RIGHT.

The Noble and the Lady. If it was anyone else, any other girl, Sakura wouldn't budge. She knew her worth. But how to compete with someone like THAT?

'I mean... Just look at her. The fact she's so beautiful aside... SASUKE actually PAYS ATTENTION to her. Does it mean he likes girls... like that? Those kind of girls? Refined?' She thought miserably. 'Comparing to her I look... I look ridiculous. Pink hair, large forehead...' She shook her head. 'NO. NO! I can't think like that. They are just talking! And Haku-san is polite, that's all. Sasuke is polite too... But he IS a noble. She probably is one, too. So... Don't give up, Sakura-chan! Onwards!'

"Oh... Is the juice not to your liking, Haruno-san? I apologize, I have another, if you want..." The black haired woman offered with a smile.

"No, no! The juice is fine! It is very tasty, really. It's just a little bit hot today." Sakura said, fanning herself.

"Hmm..." Haku frowned thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side. "May I have your juice for a moment, Haruno-san?" She asked.

"Of course, but why...?"

Haku smiled, taking the bottle in her hand.

Sakura and Sasuke blinked as the glass started to develop a slight sheen of frost.

"Here you go, Haruno-san. I think this should be better for such a hot day." She gave a cold bottle to Sakura.

"It is... It is cold!" The pink haired girl noted with astonishment. "How did you do that?"

"Ah, it's nothing much." Haku shrugged modestly. "Just my bloodlimit."

"I have never heard of a bloodlimit that would freeze things." Muttered Sasuke with obvious interest.

"That's just a side effect, really. It is called Hyoton. It allows me to combine two separate elements - in this case wind and water into another, ice. Nothing big, but so useful for a day like this, wouldn't you agree?" The black haired woman smiled cheerfully and Sakura couldn't help but smile back.

'ARGH! I can't even hate her! She's too damn nice!' howled Inner Sakura.

Sasuke was ready to speak until Haku stiffened momentarily, her head darting to the left, where a second later, with poof of Shunshin, Hatake Kakashi appeared.

"Yo!" His eye did the 'upturn smile' thing as he greeted his students. "A black cat crossed my road and I had to take a detour to avoid the bad luck."

"LIAR!" Sakura scowled, preparing to rant at the jounin until a delicate hand stopped her with uncannily strong, if gentle grip.

"Please... don't frown so, Haruno-san." She said softly. "You have a such a beautiful forehead, it would be such a shame to mar it with premature wrinkles"  
From anyone else, such a comment might come as a thinly veiled insult of some kind, but from Haku it sounded completely sincere and helpful.

Sakura just couldn't stop form blushing slightly with embarrassment.

'She... she thinks my forehead is... is cute...' Inner Sakura melted into a puddle of blissful goo. 'Haku-san... So sweet...'

Haku blinked with slight surprise, throwing a questioning look at Sasuke as Sakura seemed to blush and stand there, transfixed.

Sasuke shrugged.

Haku didn't know but she had just made a lifelong friend in the person of Haruno Sakura with that one comment.

Kakashi blinked.

"Haku." He said with surprise.

"Hatake-san." Her voice was just as polite as before, but there was a distinctive lack of warmth in it. Somehow, Kakashi didn't seem to care.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at hospital."

"I have already finished, Hatake-san." The kunoichi said politely. "I wanted to have a lunch, but I think I lost my appetite. If you'll excuse me..."

She rose gracefully.

"I hope to meet you both again, Haruno-san, Uchiha-san." Haku bowed to them with a smile.

They bowed back and the young woman vanished with a brief Shunshin.

Kakashi looked at his students.

"Hmm... It seems you guys can make some of the most interesting friends." he said cheerfully.

"You know her, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Oh, of course. Most jounin know her. Or of her, at least. Haku is one of Konoha's foremost medical prodigies. She runs one of the main offices in the Second Konoha Ninja Hospital."

"Really?" Saskura's eyes widened. "But she can't be much older than us!"

"She isn't." Kakashi shrugged. "She's just that good. Rumor has it Tsunade-sama herself trained her for some time. Also, Haku is not only a medic - she is one of the foremost Tokubetsu Jounin. So yes, you might say that I know her."

"Tsunade? Of the Sannin?" Sakura's eyes got wide. "Really?"

"Those are only rumors, but it would explain a few things about her skill." Kakashi nodded.

"Trained by a Sannin... No wonder that she made a Tokubetsu Jounin so early." Sasuke muttered thoughtfully, turning to Kakashi. "How strong is she?"

"Hmm. I've never saw her fight in person but some of my acquaintances did and say he is very good. Very calm, very collected. And she has a powerful bloodlimit."

"The... Hyoton. Yes. She told us." Sakura nodded.

"Already? Hmm... she must like you guys, then." His eyes 'smiled' at them. "But let's focus on matters at hand. I've got you guys your first mission. But..." The copycat blinked. "Where is Naruto?"

---

"NO! You can't! She's just barely made genin! This is insane!" Haruka looked at her husband imploringly. "Inoichi! Say something."

The blond man kept sitting without a word, simply looking at the small slip of paper signed by the Hokage and stamped with the ANBU Operations Division seal.

"Inoichi! Do something! This is... this is an outrage!" She glared at the two armored, masked figures sitting in front of her impassively. "If you think I will let you d-"

"Enough." Inoichi's voice cut the air like a knife. He looked up from the paper and nodded to the masked Hana.

"Ino...ichi..." Haruka desperately. "You... you can't! Are you insane?! She's just a child! She... This is ANBU! Inoichi! You can't! She just became a genin!"

"I said enough!" The blond man snapped. "You are right. She just made genin. She is a GENIN. A NINJA. Konoha's SOLDIER."

Haruka paled, hearing her husband's words.

"You... Are you insane...? Inoichi... She's your daughter! OUR daughter! She will...!"

"She will do what is expected of her!" The man slammed his fist on the table. "She will do what is expected of her as a Yamanaka, as a Konoha's kunoichi! She had chosen to become a shinobi. She is not a child anymore, Haruka! You can't protect her anymore."

"N... NO! NO! I won't agree to this!" She said hysterically, glaring at her husband and then at the ANBU. "Get out! Get out and take this garbage with you!" She swept the document of the table. "She is too young, too young!"

"Mugen was ten years old when he became an ANBU." Inoichi said calmly. "Do you have so little faith in her, Haruka?"

"Don't you DARE to twist it that way, Inoichi!" The woman hissed, balling her palms into fists. "Don't you dare! She is just a rookie genin. I might have not been in the ANBU but I know how their missions get." She spat. "I know how Operations Division is! Yoshino told me enough! She is too young! She lacks experience. She lacks seasoning. The genin teams are set up as they are for a reason! Inoichi... Even if she survives... The ANBU will break her, can't you SEE that?! Do you want her like that? A murderer? A living TOOL? Like THAT?!" She pointed at the silent Naruto, before glaring at the boy. "Oh I know what you are. I have been there when you howled under that seal! I remember! But at least you weren't the souless murderer then. Look at you... Konoha's Mugen no Ken... HAH!" She spat. "The ANBU's Living Weapon! Souless automat-"

"ENOUGH!" Inoichi slammed his fist to the table hard enough to crack it. "YOU WILL BE SILENT, WIFE!"

Haruka froze, looking wide eyed at her usually easy-going husband.

"You shame this Clan with your behavior! You shame me! And you shame our daughter the most! This is an S-class secret, woman! Both of them! You will be silent!"

"In...Inoichi..." she whispered with shock.

"I said SILENCE!"

Haruka's face became blank, void of all emotions.

"As my husband wishes." She said coldly. "May I be excused? I suddenly feel... indisposed."

"Go." He said, gritting his teeth.

Haruka rose gracefully and walked out of the room.

Inoichi's shoulders sagged and he rubbed his temples.

"Forgive my wife..." He said tiredly. "She lost her own genin team along with her older brother who was their jounin during the last Shinobi War and she never could quite forget that. When Ino became a shinobi... She doesn't want Ino on the front lines. I'm deeply sorry for her shameful words."

"There is no need for that, Yamanaka-san. She is distraught. It is understandable." Hana said through her clenched teeth. "But in the future, she would be wise to keep the... knowledge to herself. Those are very dangerous waters she is treading."

"Forgive me. I assure you this knowledge won't make past this house. I give you my word on that." He rubbed his temples, getting up. "Mugen... If I might have a word in private...?

"As you wish." Naruto said emotionlessly, getting up, following the man out of the room.

---

"Cigarette?"

Naruto shook his head, rolling up the mask slightly and taking out his own box.

"Ah. I see you still use those." Inoichi murmured, lighting his own cancer stick.

The two men smoked in silence for a while. Inoichi was the first to break it.

"The seal still bothering you? Any flashbacks in dreams still?"

"No." the blond said exhaling the smoke. "They subsided a year ago. Your sessions helped."

"Glad to hear that." He grimaced. "Damn shame I couldn't just 'mindwalk' you. It would be far easier.

"For you or for me?" the blond smirked.

"Both, proapably." the older man chuckled. "Using those half-assed measures like that... Damn but that was troublesome." He took a long drag. "And I heard one of yours is under that shit too."

"Yes." Naruto said curtly.

"That damned thing should have never been made." Inoichi scowled. "No matter what it was supposed to do... It just isn't worth it."

Naruto looked at Inoichi without a word.

"Heh... Yeah. What am I thinking. Preaching to the choir and all that." The Yamanaka smiled mirthlessly. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. We established that."

"Still, if there is anything I can-"

"Drop it. Not your fault. No problem."

There was another bout of silence.

"I'm sorry for Haruka. She is just... afraid." Inoichi said with a sigh.

"Her right. Can't say I disagree with her."

"Ah. So you don't know." The older ninja said thoughtfully.

The blond looked at him sharply.

"The Hokage didn't tell you why Ino is to join your team?"

"No. But I suspect he has his reasons. My own case aside, this is... highly unorthodox."

"You can say THAT again." Inoichi muttered taking a long drag from his cigarette. "If Sarutobi-sama didn't share his motivation, I can't say anything."

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't."

Naruto scowled.

"I hate this cloak and dagger shit." He growled."Half of the time it's like running through a dark room with a blindfold on and praying you don't step on that explosive note that you KNOW is there or don't get stabbed in the back with the knife that the nice fellow hunting you is holding. I just love the Black Ops."

"What are you doing in ANBU, then?" The older blond smiled sardonically. "But once he tells you, come to me. I'll answer all of your questions. And believe me, you'll have plenty of them."

"Really. You don't say?" The boy said dryly.

"Anyway, about Ino..." Inoichi shifted uneasily. "I'm not naive, Naruto. I know she'll be put through some... hard times. But... Just..." He rubbed his temples. "I'm her father, for Kami's sake...!" he looked at the younger blond, something akin to desperate resignation in his eyes.

"I get it. I won't tell you 'don't worry'. We both know how the ANBU works. But if she's half as stubborn as you used to say she is... well, she'll have the tools and the best teacher she can get. If she learns, she'll be an Operator."

Inoichi nodded slowly, reading the multiple meanings easily.

His own time in ANBU was that far back and he had worked with Team 4 before. More importantly, he had worked with Naruto before.

"So if she doesn't get through the Crucible and goes Ops straight, who's her handler?" He asked. 'Please... Please kami let it not be Tenrou...'

"We're mildly maniacal, not idiots." Naruto said dryly, reading the older nin's face. "Don't worry. Haku's had been nominated her handler. She'll get the basics from the whole Team when there's time, but Haku's her main handler."

"Oh." Inoichi said with a relieved sigh. "Haku... Now that's different."

"I said she's in the best hands she can be, didn't I?"

"Quite." The man smirked. "So. How's her... handling?" He said with a snicker.

Naruto glared.

---

Ino sighed tiredly running her hand through her sweat-matted hair only to scowl as she found small leaves and pieces of wood in them.

'I think I hate that stupid cat.' She thought darkly.

"I'm home!" She called kicking away her sandals.

'Nobody answers? Odd.' The blonde frowned.

"Ino. Come to the main room. We have guests that are here to see you." Came her father's voice from the house.

'Guests?'

"I'm coming!" she shouted, cursing her sorry state. But her father had that 'right away' note in his voice. As rebellious she might have been at times, she wasn't stupid.

She straightened out her hair, hastily flicking any remaining leaves and smoothing her dress as she checked her appearance in the mirror.

'Heh. Even tired I still look damn good.' She thought smugly, grinning at her reflection.

She walked through the hall and smiled as she made to the main room.

"Hey, dad."

Her smile fell a little when she noted her father's face was impassive and he didn't get up to greet her with a 'princess' comment like he usually did.

'And... Where is mom?' She frowned before looking to the side.

The two figures were clad in the near-identical dark olive armors and drab gray fatigues she recognized right away. And even if she didn't, the mask on the woman's face was a dead giveaway.

'ANBU. Judging by the armor color... Operations Division... yeah. That would be right.' She frowned remembering what she had learned about the ANBU in the Academy. 'But Operations don't work in the village. Hell, they rarely operate in the Fire Country, even. What are they doing here, then? Are they dad's war buddies or something? But...

"Ino, those are the officers of the ANBU Operations Division Team 4, Captain W-"

"No need for codenames, Inoichi." The woman took of her mask revealing a somewhat firce, if attractive face of a young woman with the Inuzuka Clan marks. "I think we had enough of fancy formality for the day, hmm?" She turned to Ino. "Name's Inuzuka Hana, Team 4 captain. The blondie in the mask is Mugen, my lieutenant."

The guy in one of the oddest masks she had ever seen nodded to her.

'Lieutenant? But... he's a shrimp! He's what... a head taller than me? Is he a midget or something?'

"Anyway, we're here in the official capacity." She cleared her throat, reaching into her battle harness for a scroll and opening it. "Yamanaka Ino, genin of Konoha. By the orders of the most honorable Sandaime Hokage and ANBU Commander-in-Chief Yusani Kanna, you are hereby assigned to the ANBU Operations Division Team 4, effective immediately." She rolled the scroll and grinned at the shocked girl. "Welcome to the ANBU, rookie."

"But... but..." Ino said wide eyed. "This... This is some joke? Right, dad?" She turned to her father, laughing nervously. "You just... you made your buddies play a joke, right?" Her laughter died as she saw her father's face remain impassive.

"It is no joke, Ino." Inoichi said calmly. "The orders are clear. You are an ANBU now. Congratulations."

"I... But... Asuma-sensei... My team." She got a hold of herself. "But I'm just a genin! How can I be ANBU?"

"Your assignment to your genin team will be terminated after your preliminary training is complete. Your jounin commander will be informed." The blond said, his voice calm, if a little strangely pitched.

'He... He's young!' Ino realized finally. 'He can't be much older than me!'

"For now, you will be performing some missions with your genin unit as long as your training permits it at least until a replacement is found. Be warned, though, that your genin duties are effectively over. You are ANBU now, rookie. Anything else is secondary." The blond continued, the white eyes mask set in a permanent, dangerous frown that unsettled her just by looking at it.

That whole mask of his was weird. Unlike his captain, he didn't wear the typical ANBU animal mask, but a cloth one of the same deep olive color his armor had, the only exceptions being the 'stretched' triangles around his eyes that gave the mask oddly sinister visage. There were no holes for eyes, the mask instead had something that looked like glass, but was apparently flexible like the fabric. It was tied over his forehead like a hitai-ate and loose down.

"You have until tomorrow to pack and pick the necessary weapons and tools you need. Your mission tomorrow has been suspended. You are expected at this address at noon. Don't be late." The Inuzuka gave her a slip of paper with an address. "You are not to talk with anybody about your nomination or your new duties. Be aware that anything you are involved in from now on is a B-class secret now. Anything mission related becomes A-rank secret automatically."

"Clothes...? Tools...? But...?" She looked at her father.

"You will be moving, Ino. Team 4 will be taking care of your training now, as well as anything else for the duration of it."

"But... Moving out? Isn't it a little bit..."

"Rookie. You've been given an order." Hana said calmly. "Unlike other ninja, we don't have a luxury of refusal. From this point on, you don't have one either. It would do you well to remember that."

Ino bristled but her father shook his head almost unnoticeably and she sighed.

"All right. I'll be there tomorrow." She said with grudging acceptance.

As much as she hated to be ordered around by some arrogant ANBU... This was ANBU! She was ANBU now! If Sasuke got to know... And Sakura would be green with envy!

'HELL YEAH! Even ANBU wants me! I'm hot, hot, HOT today!'

Her budding smile fell.

'But... Sasuke won't know... will he? I can't tell him. I can't tell Sakura either...'

"Welcome to ANBU, rookie." Hana handed her the scroll.

Ino took the scroll gingerly and nodded slowly.

"Welcome to Ops."

---


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Edited by Skelethin

---

Operator.

Chapter 7

"First edge."

---

Breath heavy.

The power burning through your limbs. Through lungs.

'...cigarette... where... fuck. Later. Later!'

Naruto gritted his teeth, running even faster.

"..Nar...uto..."

"Shut up!" The blond shinobi snapped. "Don't you dare to talk!"

"...Naruto..."

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!"

There was a weak chuckle.

"...Talking to your superior... like that..."

"I can when he's an idiot." Naruto hissed. "Shut the FUCK up, taicho!"

"...this is pointless, Naruto..." Masato sighed.

"FUCK you know! Now shut up!" The blond gritted his teeth, the surroundings blurring.

'...move...move... MOVE you stupid IDIOT! PAIN MATTERS NOT!'

"You're... burning up, Naruto... I can feel it..."

The blond just gritted his teeth.

He was. His unique metabolism was pulling him through the poison and three days of lack of sleep. But he was burning. He was weak. His body ached and he could feel the constant sizzling of Kyuubi's power in his veins.

This was NOT good. He should be sitting now and smoking his stabilizers one after another like a goddamn chimney, not burning chakra like mad to run beyond his abilities.

When he crashed, he was going to crash hard. Haku would kill him, if the burnout didn't.

"If you don't shut up I will use my mask as a fucking GAG!"

Masato smiled weakly.

"...no... way... That stupid... rag ain't touching... me none..." He protested.

Naruto opened his mouth to snap back, only to backpedal as a long spear hit his previous position.

"And where the hell are you going, Konoha trash?"

Naruto looked up, seeing two Moon chuunin and the spears in their hands.

'...Assault Brigade... fuck...'

"You ain't going nowhere, little boy." the long haired man said cooly, retrieving his spear. "You will pay for your crimes here and now."

"I don't have time for you. Move or die like the rest." He gritted out.

Second chuunin, a redheaded man, gritted his teeth.

"The murderer who did it is already getting his punishment... and the rest of the squad is hunting your little friends. It is just a matter of time, trash." He growled. "It is only you now."

"Oh. He's burning up." The long haired Moon chuunin said with interest, looking at Masato's prone body. "Leaving your squad... are you running to our outpost, little shinobi?" He laughed. "There is no antidote for Nagasumi-sama's venom, trash! This fool is already as good as dead!"

Naruto froze.

The only reason he left his Team was because he hoped against hope that the headquarters of the Assault Brigade would have the antidote. Masato was dying, even his limited training could tell him that. The poison was slow, but fatal.

"...You lie scum." He said, his eyes narrowed as he let Masato to slide on the grass gently.

The short haired chuunin chuckled.

"Think what you will, little fool. I'm telling the truth. But even if there was an antidote..." his spear moved fluidly. "It won't help you. You will die here, ran through like a pig you are. I will take that murderer with me and we will set him up on a square. We will give him water. Food. Take care of him. And watch as he slowly suffers in agony to his last breath looking at the corpses of his 'precious comrades'." He smirked. "Time to die, Konoha scum."

Naruto cocked his head to the side.

"Don't stall, Daisuke." Said the long haired man. "Kill this boy and let's return this scum to the village. He will pay for Nagasumi-sama's death."

Daisuke nodded, twirling his spear.

"I might not be a Heavenly Spear yet, boy. But I have been trained by Tetsuo-sama himself. I am a master of-"

The chuunin's eyes widened as something pierced his back.

"You're a corpse." Naruto said calmly, withdrawing his massive dagger.

"...how did you...?!" The long haired chuunin jumped aside.

Naruto didn't bother responding as his Kage Bunshin took a position protecting Masato. The dagger moved in an intricate patter as he lunged at the spear wielding shinobi.

"A knife against a spear?" The chuunin snorted, snapping his weapon in a circular defensive pattern. "Fool! I will-"

He blinked as the spear was suddenly cut in half by a sword that seemed to come out of nowhere.

'...what in the-'

The blade moved upwards and the jounin gritted his teeth, grabbing the hacked off part. The lower part had a short, but deadly pike and the boy was overextending himself.

'When he will try to swing that sword down I will-'

His eyes widened as the boy simply... let go of his weapon. The empty hands snapped to the side. Two short axes chopped of the raised forearms.

Kunio, the Hidden Moon chuunin didn't even scream, so sudden was the loss of his limbs.

"...You..." He whispered. "I know who you-"

His head flew off, the cut of a nodachi quick and clean.

Naruto let the weapon return, walking up to his wounded captain, only to stiffen.

"Is there no end to you?" He hissed, turning to the seemingly empty field.

"So the rumors were true." The disembodied voice said calmly. "The man who can call weapons at will from thin air... The living weapon of Konoha really does exist." The voice, oddly pitched and echoing from every side at once chuckled faintly. "You don't look like much."

"Come and find out." Naruto hissed through his ripped mask.

"I mean... 'living weapon'..." The voice continued thoughtfully. "I expected something... grander. Not just parlor tricks with seals. Though I must commend you on the speed of your access. Bravo." There was an echoing sound of a slow clap. "But it is all it is. A cheap parlor trick."

Naruto closed his eyes, exhaling the air with a hiss.

"...Parlor trick... Maybe you're right." He slammed his palms on the ground.

Without even fraction second of delay, the ground seemed to explode as two lines of blades, one after another, rose form the ground with almost blinding speed.

There was a loud squelch of steel entering the body and two shinobi slumped down from the bushes, pierced by the swords.

"But it is enough for me." Naruto said calmly.

There was a long pause.

"You will pay for this, BRAT!" The voice hissed. "Do you think you can escape? We have you surrounded! A whole squad of ninja...! We won't be surprised like those third rate fools!"

"Idiot." Naruto barked a laugh. "You already were!" The blond swept his hand horizontally, as if pushing something away, only for a simple longsword to appear in his hand as he lunged forward.

He swept the blade and it seemed to blur, leaving after images.

The Moon ANBU captain's eyes widened as the 'afterimage' flayed one of his men apart.

'...What in the-?!'

The blond twisted, his left hand sweeping upwards, seemingly exploding with daggers, kunai, senbon and, impossibly, Fuuma shuriken that he seemed to fan out out in the air.

Naruto smirked.

A thick, long but elegant shape appeared in his hands. The Suna battle fan snapped open. The fan descended, releasing Kamaitachi no Jutsu straight at the falling weapons, propelling them at the Moon ANBU Squad.

Naruto snapped his hands to the sides, 'drawing' two longswords.

The half-summoned secondary edges of over forty other weapons, with those two swords used as the focus points, followed. With the blades leaving a trail of steel behind him, Naruto fell upon the ANBU squad, following his rain of death.

The hapless ABU officer didn't have even time to scream as the buzzsaw made of constantly halfway summoned and dismissed swords tore him apart.

---

Naruto's eyes snapped open.

'...fuck.'

He gently moved to the side, trying to feel his cigarette box only to have it pressed into his hands.

Hana's eyes glinted in the darkness.

"Dreams?" She said softly.

"Yeah." Naruto lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag, only to notice his palms were shaking slightly. "...dammit..." He said lamely.

The Inuzuka Heiress slid to Naruto, embracing him tightly, sharing her warmth.

"This is the second time, Naruto." she said gently. "Are you sure that-"

"Yes I am bloody sure!" The blond snapped.

"This is not NORMAL Naruto! You are NEVER like that!" She pressed. "You are usually either collected or an adrenaline junkie poster boy! You've been off balance for days!"

Naruto took a long drag, staring in the air, only to yelp as Hana bit his ear.

"Watch it, bitch!"

"Then pay attention, dammit!" Her long nails bit into Naruto's shoulder and the blond winced. "Get it through your thick skull! We are MATES!" She growled. "Your anger makes ME angry! I've been on edge for days now! What the hell is going on, Naruto?"

"It is just... fuck." He slumped. "With rookie getting like that and that shithead Kakashi... I just..."

Hana's eyes widened.

"...Oh god. Naruto. I'm sorry." She said softly hugging Naruto. "I'm so sorry. I should have seen it..."

Naruto patted her shoulder awkwardly.

"I... It's not your fault." He said lamely. "Sorry. I... I've been an asshole lately. But it all just... melded together and..."

"Yeah." She sighed into his neck, inwardly cursing the fact that Haku was still in the hospital. "You aren't alone, you know. We all miss him."

"I know, I know." Naruto took a long drag out of his cigarette. "It just... it was such a stupid death, you know?" He said softly. "Not even during a mission. Fuck... He was so happy. We pulled that shit in Coral without a hitch. Like some fucking magicians. Hidden Moon... Who cares about that hind of nowhere? That's why we took that route getting back. I mean... their ninja village is sleepy! And then that damn coup..." He gritted his teeth. "But coup or no coup... How the fuck did they find us, Hana? We weren't even passing through their defense line!"

"Accidents happen, Naruto." The Inuzuka sighed sadly. "Nothing you can do. At least they didn't get to enjoy their victory." She added darkly, fangs bared.

"No. That they didn't." Naruto said softly.

Team 4 earned a grim reputation in the Hidden Moon that day, even if the powers-that-be were grateful for assistance. After the fact that the antidote for the venom did not, in fact, exist... Well, Team 4 decided to get back to Konoha quickly. If it meant slaughtering a good number of Hidden Moon renegades to do it... All the better.

This where the real reputation of Team 4 as homicidal freaks willing to do the most insane thing to win was born and where Mugen no Ken name was truly made 'real'.

Kanna didn't even slap demerits on them for that. Though she did put them under guard and forbade them from leaving Konoha. Then the whole thing was over, the bastards responsible dead... Nothing to go back for.

The doors opened gently as the white-clad figure walked in without a sound.

"Hi there, beautiful." Hana smiled. "Long evening?"

"More... troublesome than long." Haku sighed. "We had a small fire in 4C because of a delirious jounin. The paperwork was a mess. Thankfully nobody got hurt but some vital medical equipment had been destroyed."

"Ouch." Hana winced. "Requisition forms for equipment? I don't envy you a bit."

"Yes. It was fairly irritating." Haku looked at Naruto for a moment. "Hard night?"

"Something like that." The blond ANBU said taking a long drag out of his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray by the bed. "Just stress and all that shit that had been piling up lately. I'll be fine."

Haku looked at him thoughtfully, before looking at Hana.

"Let's say I believe him." The Inuzuka shrugged.

"Ah." Haku nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm still here, you know." The blond grumbled, reaching for another cigarette.

"Yes, Naruto-sama. So I noticed." Haku smiled faintly, her hand playing with the sash daintily.

Hana raised an eyebrow, before smirking.

"Need help?" She murmured, sliding forward sinuously.

"It would be appreciated." Haku frowned thoughtfully, tugging at the delicate material. "It seems a little stuck."

"Yeah... I can see that." Hana grabbed the sash, pulling Haku towards the bed gently as she tugged on it. "Hmm... Such a complicated knot." She breathed. "It will be... hard to unravel it."

"But I trust your skilled hands." Haku leaned slightly forward, smiling at Hana, her eyes half lidded. "You have more... power than I do... Hana-sama..."

"That I do little kunoichi... That I do." Hana chuckled throatily, her hands slowly tracing the side of Haku's thigh before it rested on the sash. "I have all kinds of power... But why should I help you?"

"I am afraid I have nothing to give..." Haku let her eyes fall demurely. "Nothing but myself."

"Hmm..." Hana smirked wickedly. "And how much of yourself will you give me, little kunoichi?"

Haku leaned forward, her hand deftly pulling out the ribbon holding her ponytail, allowing the silky tresses to spill down and touch Hana's face lightly.

"Everything." She whispered, touching Hana's face.

The two women kissed deeply, Hana grasping Haku's yukata roughly and pulling her down forcefully.

Haku moaned as she felt Hana's hand opening her yukata without unfastening the sash, making it loose as her hand sneaked under it.

Naruto simply stared as the two kunoichi growing progressively more... involved as Hana made Haku kneel on the bed even as she grasped her hair roughly.

The two women broke the lip lock, panting slightly.

"Mm... You taste as good as I remember." Hana chuckled.

Haku smiled, licking her lips.

"I'm... glad that you... approve..." she murmured throatily.

Naruto blinked owlishly.

"Oh my." Haku blinked innocently. "Aren't we forgetting something"  
"Hmm..." Hana tapped her cheek. "I would guess so. What do you think it might be?"

The two turned, looking at Naruto.

"Ah! Yes. We need... Leverage." Haku nodded thoughtfully, tapping her sash. "It will make things so much easier if it is a good, strong... leverage."

Hana smirked. "Long... Hard... Leverage." The Inuzuka heiress licked her lips. "And we have it right... here... Are we lucky or what?"

The blond put away his cigarette with a smirk.

"And what do I get for renting the... leverage?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh... I think we can think of something..." Hana chuckled, caressing Haku's throat lazily, her hand slipping down. "Don't we, Haku?"

The kunoichi smiled, sweeping her hair to the side and leaning forward.

"We will certainly... try." She murmured with a smile.

---

"Clothes, kunai, something to read..." Ino finished the checkup on her baggage, before nodding with satisfaction. "Yeah, I'm all set."

"Ready, princess?"

"As I will ever be." Ino shrugged nervously, turning to her father. "Is that really necessary, daddy?"

"Orders are orders, Ino." The Yamanaka clan head shook his head. "You will find that ANBU is far from what you have experienced until now."

"So you keep telling me." Ino muttered, grabbing her luggage. "But that is ALL what you're telling me."

"Because that is all I can tell you until you get your clearance." Inoichi said simply. "Understand, Ino. Everything about ANBU beyond public knowledge is classified. Everything. From number of missions to the number of paper clips they use."

Ino blinked.

"You're kidding." She said skeptically.

"No." Inoichi shook his head. "I'm not. When Hana-san told you that everything that you're doing from now on is a B-class secret she MEANT it." He looked at his daughter seriously. "Ino. I want you to treat it seriously. You are a genin now. A ninja. An ADULT in the eyes of the law."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Be responsible, do your job... You've told me this like, hundred times already. I will be-" She froze as she felt her father grip her arms with almost painful force.

"Ino. I am Not. Joking." He said, his face stony. "As a genin, sometimes even a young chuunin, some of your mistakes can be overlooked because of inexperience. Some things can be forgiven. Not so in ANBU. You mess up and the consequences will be immediate, merciless and as harsh as possible. There is a reason why ANBU sends so few of their members to jail Ino."

The girl paled slightly, understanding the meaning behind her father's words.

"Daddy... Why am I even IN ANBU to begin with?" She asked, looking down. "I'm good, don't get me wrong but... I passed the exam two days ago for kami's sake! I'm a fresh genin. what do they want from me? And... isn't ANBU voluntary?"

Inoichi sighed.

"Usually, yes. But Hokage can, under some circumstance, assign a ninja, any ninja, to ANBU if the situation dictates it. It is incredibly rarely used but he has that right." He shook his head. "I can't give you the answers as to 'why'. Not yet. But..." He looked at his daughter. "There is a very valid, very important reason for that. You just have to trust me."

"I do, daddy." Ino muttered. "I just... It is so sudden."

"I understand, princess." He smiled, letting his daughter go. "But you are in very good hands. Trust me. Team 4 is... eccentric." He smiled weakly. "But they are good people. Listen to them, do your best and they will take care of you."

"You know them?" She asked curiously. "'Cause you seemed all buddy-buddy with them and all..."

"Yes, I know them. I worked with them some, especially with two members of the team, the vice captain you saw yesterday and another one." He chuckled. "Far from easy, but a very... interesting job."

"What is with that midget anyway." Ino grumbled. "I mean... so rude"  
Inoichi's smile fell.

"Mugen... Let's just say he has his reasons." The older man sighed. "Please don't antagonize him, Ino. His life had been far from easy. He can be a good friend but you don't want him as your enemy." Inoichi cautioned. "Trust me on that. Also..." He hesitated. "There is a woman in your squad. I can't give you her name, but her hair covers her eyes. Whatever you do Ino, do not anger her. Do not argue with her. Not until she warms up to you. And under any and I DO MEAN ANY circumstances don't even dare to use ANY Yamanaka mind arts on her." His eyes darkened. "Remember that, Ino. NEVER. No matter what the circumstances. The same goes for Mugen. Promise me, Ino."

The blonde looked at her father, who was strangely pale, his eyes unfocused.

"Promise me!"

"I-I promise!" Ino stuttered out. "Geez! Daddy! I won't use that stuff on the teammates to begin with! What's the big deal?"

"You will learn in time." The older man said darkly. "For now just... trust me on that."

'...This ANBU thing looks progressively worse the closer it gets...' Ino thought with a wince.

---

"Well... I'm here..." Ino muttered, looking at the large, if simple building. It was smaller than her family's clan compound and far simpler, but it wasn't half bad. If a little bare.

"Hello. You must be Yamanaka Ino-san."

Ino flinched momentarily, before snapping her eyes to the left.

The young, raven haired woman in a simple white yukata smiled at her, holding a small pot with a single sprout. Though it was a little big to be called that.

The girl, or rather a young woman, was beautiful, with her slender figure and raven tresses she looked like she came from some court tale.

Ino blinked.

"...How do you know my name?"

Haku smiled.

"I have been waiting for you. My name is Haku. Please, follow me, Ino-san." She looked down the plant. "I don't think the little one can wait."

Ino leaned forward, her expert eye taking in the small, if strong and healthy looking sapling.

"Hmm. You are right. It needs to be planted fast." She muttered. "Isn't it a little young for that though?" She asked dubiously.

"It is older than it looks." Haku shook her head walking to the garden. "And stronger even if smaller."

Ino cocked her head, before frowning.

"What do you mean waiting?" She asked suspiciously. "I've been told I'm to report to lieutenant's training compound."

"And you just did." Haku said calmly as Ino followed her. "This is place will serve as your training area for the next three months."

"So this is ANBU facility?" Ino looked around curiously. "I didn't know ANBU used homes like that."

"Oh my, no." Haku laughed. "This place is a home, Ino-san."

The blonde looked at the medic in confusion.

"All will be explained in time, Ino-san." Haku went into he garden and Ino's eyes widened.

The place was far from opulent, but it was large and obviously kept by a loving and attentive hand. The flowers were surprisingly sparse, but still present, though what looked like cherry trees and, oddly enough, pines, were the majority. There was some kind of a young rose bush, obviously newly planted on the left as well as a large shrub of Camelia that looked to be expertly cared for.

'...camelia... why camelia?' Ino thought curiously. 'Sure, it is nice, but roses would be better. Or any number of flowers. This garden is obviously well cared for, yet it is such an odd... hodgepodge.'

She cocked her head, looking at the shrub for a moment. It was rich and larger than she would have suspected a simple camelia shrub could be, but there was something... odd about it. For one, it had few flowers. Far fewer than a shrub of this size should, though those that were left were large and almost arrogant in their beauty. It was also... bent.

'It looks as if somebody just... broke it at some point.' She frowned. 'Who could have done it to such a lovely shrub?'

"There. You should be all right here, hmm?" Haku dusted off her hands, using the nearby basin of water to clean them of grime. "Is something the matter, Ino-san?"

"What happened to that shrub?" Ino said distractedly. "I mean, it looks as if it was broken or cut..."

"I have no idea to be honest." Haku touched the shrub gently, smiling sadly. "Naruto-sama and I found it a long time ago. I think someone was angry that it didn't give them flowers yet and threw it out."

Ino scowled. She always loved plants, well before working at her family's flower shop. While she was trained to kill, cruelty to plants was something she could not stand - the plant couldn't harm, what was the point in harming it when it just gave you beauty to make your day easier?

"Reviving it must have been a lot of work." She pointed out, looking carefully. It looked to have been broken in two places a long time ago and then carefully nursed to grow.

"Yes. But worth every second, don't you think Ino-san?" Haku smiled, touching one of the large flowers gently. "It might not give the most flowers, but those it gives are truly beautiful."

"Yeah." Ino nodded, smiling. "I have never seen such rich color on camelia. You are really good at that, Haku-san."

"Oh no, no." The woman shook her head. "I just gave it some care and attention. I didn't make it grow. It grew on it's own."

Ino looked at the camelia with interest, before shaking her head regretfully.

"I'd like to speak more with you, Haku-san, but I need to report to my commanding officer."

"Why, Ino-san." Haku smiled pleasantly. "You already did."

---

"As I said before, my name is Haku." The raven tressed woman put a steaming bowl of tea in front of Ino. "I am the head of medical support for Team 4 as well as ANBU Elite Operator. From this point on I shall be your Handler, Ino-san."

Ino shook off her stupor enough to reach for the tea. .

"...Handler?"

"It means that from this point on, she is your superior officer, trainer and the person responsible for turning your lilly genin ass into ANBU material, rookie." Came a wry female voice.

Ino turned to the door frame, noticing the familiar Inuzuka woman and slightly shorter, blond haired teenager next to her.

"Hana." Haku sighed. "Not the words I'd use... but fair enough." She smiled. "Naruto-sama. How was your day?"

"Same old, same old." Naruto put a cigarette into his mouth lighting it with a quick Katon. "Uchiha broods and sneers at the D-ranks, Haruno oggles hims and is in her little dreamland half of the time we're supposed to be training and Copycat is as lazy and incompetent as a teacher as always." He snorted. "You think losing one fucking team would teach his something. Feh. He didn't even bother to hone what they already have beyond standard academy exercises." The blond sighed.

'...that is my lieutenant?' Ino blinked he looks... what? Fourteen?' She frowned thoughtfully. '...and... kinda familiar.'

"...Don't I know you from somewhere...?"

Years of working and helping in the flower shop honed her ability to remember faces. She usually didn't forget and the guy was pretty distinctive. Konoha had only a handful of blonds, after all. Most in her clan, at that.

"Yeah... Yeah I do..." She muttered. '...blond... blond... who do I...?'

"Don't strain yourself." Naruto smirked. "We went to academy together, Yamanaka. Uzumaki Naruto, 21A."

She blinked owlishly.

"You know, the guy that that fucker Iruka always yelled at?" Naruto prodded and Ino's eyes widened.

"...no way..." She muttered with disbelief. "You dropped out!"

"No, I just graduated early." Naruto shrugged.

"...But... but..." Ino scowled. "Hey, I remember you now! You were the dead last two years running! How the HELL could you graduate early?!"

"I did it in true ninja fashion." Naruto said solemnly.

Ino blinked.

"I cheated."

---

"Your old man explained you the secrecy and the inability to refuse a mission part, right?" Hana sat by the table and nodded gratefully to Haku who gave her a cup of tea.

"Yes." Ino nodded carefully.

"Well, then you got the gist of it, I think." The Inuzuka pulled a small scroll from her vest, sliding it to Ino. "This is a list of rules and regulations you are supposed to follow. I expect you to know and understand them all before the week is over. But there are some things you must know." The Inuzuka took a sip form her cup. "What do you know of the Operations Division?"

"Well... It is primary used by Hokage for missions outside of Fire Country borders." Ino frowned, trying to remember her lessons. "You have your own ANBU section, like Hunter Nins, and report directly to the ANBU commander."

"More or less accurate." Hana nodded. "Ops operates mostly out of borders of Fire, yes - though there are exceptions. Our charter, unlike Intel, Hunter Nin Corps or Assassination Squad and the rest is rather loose. In theory, we are used for aggressive intelligence gathering and surgical strike operations. In practice, we do whatever Hokage orders us to do. Each Ops team bypasses the normal ANBU chain of command and is a self-contained strike team capable of performing any mission. Which means we are deployed frequently, since we can be deployed fast and without fuss." Hana sighed. "Now since we have the official drivel out of the way, some facts. For one, you're screwed. Forget about private life - from this moment it doesn't exist. When I said we are called on frequently, I meant it. There are only so many Operations teams and things are far from easy. Also, there is an important detail." Hana looked at Ino carefully. "Unlike other ANBU divisions, we don't get the tattoos. We don't get the fancy swords and the nice olive armors? They are for Konoha and Fire or allied nations operations only. The moment an Ops team leaves on a mission each and every member gets a 'suspended' missing nin file with the A-class priority."

Ino paled.

"...what?" The genin squeaked finally.

"You heard me." Hana said dispassionately. "If we are caught, if we screw up... We're dead. No one will come to help. No rescue. No reinforcements. Our files are released as wanted nukenin and officially, Konoha never sent us - we're renegade."

"But... but why... what for?" Ino's eyes were wide.

"Because we usually operate in hostile territory. A territory where a presence of a Konoha nin would be at best a diplomatic embarrassment, at worst an excuse for a war." Hana said calmly. "For that reason, you will be trained in non-Konoha tactics, non-Konoha jutsu and every piece of your equipment will not be of Konoha make or style."

"...oh." Ino said dumbly.

This was not something that they taught about in the Academy. ANBU were supposed to be the proud Konoha elite. The men and women in those cool animal masks with the cool armors and tattoos marking them as a part of the elite fighting force.

This was... was... Ino had no idea what that was, but it wasn't what she expected in the least.

"Okay, since we got THAT shit out, here are the silver linings." Hana smirked. "For one, money. You are paid a high salary with additions for high risk assignments. Moreover, you are entitled to a completely free and top notch medical service in Konoha." Hana nodded to Haku, who smiled pleasantly. "You are given an addition to your pay that can be spent on any extra weaponry you want, as long as it conforms to the guidelines. Each mission is liable for double, or in some cases triple pay and bonuses are frequent. You have an access to ANBU jutsu library, which is the second largest one in Konoha. As a trainee it is a limited access, but there are things there that other genin and chuunin would kill for. Also, as an ANBU specialist, you are liable for ANY kind of extra training you wish for without any additional cost. As long as the teacher is available and your commanding officer agrees, you can request any form of extra training you wish for. ANBU will not only finance it - the Division will add a bonus if you complete it to the satisfactory level."

Ino's eyes were wide.

"Any kind?" She asked with disbelief.

"As long as it doesn't collide with your duties? Sure." Hana shrugged. "Every ANBU uses that to get at least a secondary specialization. Usually either in field medicine, genjutsu or demolition but there are many options to choose from."

Ino nodded slowly.

Genin were limited to their jounin's instruction and chuunin had to find a willing teacher and usually pay quite a bit if they lacked any mentor willing to train them for free. Jounin sensei after all could only teach one so much. This was indeed a good deal.

"So... where do I start?" She asked after a moment.

"You already did." Hana got up. "Welcome to Ops, rookie."

---

"Although high combat ability is needed and welcome, ANBU's best weapon is the ability to remain unnoticed and undetected." Haku walked to the small pond.

Ino's eyebrows shot up as she saw the woman calmly walking on water as if it was a solid ground.

"This is the beginner exercise in chakra control. Using it you will be able to walk on any surface and stick to it without fail. It is performed by allowing a small amount of chakra to radiate form your feet to hold you aloft." The medic looked at Ino. "According to your academy sheet you have an exceptionally high chakra control so this should be no problem to you. Try it. You might find it easier with bare feet."

Ino shed her sandals looking at the pond with a frown.

'...it is a little bit like the enhancement thing, so...'

She laid a foot on the surface of the water, only to have it sink.

'...too little.'

She tried again, this time getting a loud splash the very moment she touched the surface.

"Too much. gently, Ino-san. Don't force it. Adjust the flow and the force and relax it the very moment you touch it. It will adjust almost on it's own."

Ino bit her lip, trying to follow the advice.

Time after time, she could feel ALMOST catching it... only to fail. So when her foot finally caught a stable foothold a few minutes later, she was almost giddy.

"HELL YEAH!" She crowed, only to wobble. The blond cursed, concentrating on the chakra flow.

"Very good." Haku praised with a smile. "Now, we shall practice the precision of your new skill."

Ino blinked.

"Precision?" She asked with interest, only to yelp as something unexpectedly cold and solid touched her feet. She trembled, looking down. "...uh... what is an ice taffle doing here?" She asked with surprise, before shuddering. "And I need to get my sandals? It's COLD!" She muttered.

"Oh of course, Ino-san." Haku smiled pleasantly. "However, to do that you must over that ice without breaking it."

The blonde frowned.

"That's it? Just not break it?"

"Yes." Haku nodded.

Ino smirked.

"Piece of cake." She took a step, only to wince as she heard a faint crack.

"I would like to advise you that the ice is rather thin." Haku smiled pleasantly. "And if you break it, you will fall in. The water is quite cold, Ino-san. I wouldn't advise it."

"I can always stand on it." Ino shrugged.

"While falling through breaking ice?" Haku quirked a smile. "Can you adjust your control so quickly, Ino-san?"

Ino winced, rubbing her feet for warmth.

'...this is going to be a long morning...'

---

"How is she?"

Haku frowned, closing the door to Ino's new room.

"There is potential there. She has naturally high chakra control and good training in it."

"Yamanaka mind arts are notoriously control-heavy." Naruto took a drag off his cigarette. "She has a good base in that. What about the rest?"

"Her physical abilities are woefully inadequate, but I expected nothing else. Skill-wise her taijutsu abilities are surprisingly high. She's aggressive, very offensive. Odd for a Yamanaka."

"From what Inoichi said she's always been the odd cookie. Yamanaka are usually calm, defensive fighters. She's the opposite." Naruto smirked. "Fits here, doesn't she?"

"Quite." Haku nodded with a faint smile.

"Can she do it?"

"Physically? With a grueling and unforgiving regime, I can bring her up to the chuunin level within four months, yes." Haku nodded. "Skill..." She hesitated. "I don't know, Naruto-sama. Her high chakra control will make things far easier but combat instincts and the battle skill... I don't know. There is no way to tell in this case. She is aggressive and it is a good sign. Though that aggression might be her undoing." Haku tapped her cheek. "However... there is one thing that might help here."

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"That girl... she is... hungry for success."

"Glory hound?" Naruto grimaced.

"Oh no, no." Haku shook her head. "She wants... power is a wrong word here. Strength. She wants to stand on her own by her own power. A very determined girl. Volatile, too. She was very close to exploding there and then. Had I been her jounin teacher and not ANBU, she just might have." Haku smiled. "She is good material, if nothing else, Naruto-sama. And she has relatively few bad habits. This might be a huge advantage."

"Masato-taicho said the same when he trained me." Naruto murmured thoughtfully. "Pity we don't have more time."

"It is unlikely her team will get more than D-rank missions for next two moths. And if needed, we can always claim priority." Haku said calmly.

"Yes. But the old man said he wants her to be affiliated with her team at least to the chuunin exams." Naruto frowned. "Which is interesting in and on itself."

Haku halted.

"He's planning something, Haku. I don't know what, but things are getting a little too tense lately. There are no clear orders but... There had been subtle shifts in the command chain. More authority to field commanders, for one. Not much, but..." The blond shook his head. "I don't know. Every one of the bits here and there could be explained. They ain't big. But together..."

"For now there is nothing we can do but wait, Naruto-sama. All the more reason to bring Ino-san up to speed." The raven haired girl said with a sigh.

"I'm leaving her in your hands, Haku." The blond nodded to her. "The orders are clear. She is to be combat capable in four months."

"Tall order. But it is possible." She muttered thoughtfully.

"No specialist training, Haku. Just the basics for now, along with combat skills."

Haku blinked.

"No specialization at all? Unusual."

"She already has one, technically speaking." Naruto shrugged. "And I think old man is cooking something for her. Inoichi's words seemed to indicate that. We'll see. For now, let's just follow the orders and wait how this develops.

"Indeed."

---


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Do I look like I own Naruto?

Edited by Skelethin.

* * *

"Operator"

Chapter 8

* * *

"The non-stop path"

* * *

"Stealth depends on many things."

Haku circled the younger blonde slowly, her calm eyes taking in every detail of the sweat-drenched, dirty body.

"It is dependent on grace of your step," The brunette slid away, smooth and flowing like water. "On the control of your body," Her hand made an oddly slow foray towards Ino's collarbone, that none the less got through, leaving a small but painful bruise. "And on the strength."

Ino swayed, her breath coming in loud heaves.

"I am sad to say... You have none of those qualities." The medic stopped in front of the girl, her abrupt pause, like her steps, not even making a slightest bit of a circle on the water. Ino tried not to be envious - it was easy when all of jealousy was turned into a nice, even flow of resentment that was slowly boiling up with each passing second.

"But then it is not unexpected. I do not blame you for it." Haku said calmly. "Your lack of ability to cultivate those skills in your most recent training, however..." She leaned forward, studying the face covered with a strange mix of dirt, perspiration and moisture from the morning dew, "That... I do."

Ino gritted her teeth, steeling herself for the strike that never came.

"Ino-san, I am not here to hurt you." The elegant girl said calmly. "I am not here to harm you. I am here to teach you the necessary skills expected of ANBU operator. How to remain unseen, how to perform your mission and how to come back alive."

The blonde said nothing, her stare between a defiant glare and deflated resignation.

"However, if you will persist in this childish behavior..." Ino blinked, when the space before her was empty, only to stiffen as Haku's breath caressed her neck. "I will be... very cross."

The medic leaned forward, her lips on the level of Ino's ear.

"Your failure means Team's 4 failure. In ANBU, failure ends in death. I will not allow that, Ino-san."

"...don't patronize me..." The Yamanaka gritted out.

"Patronize you?" Haku cocked her head to the side curiously. "I am not... 'patronizing' you. I am simply explaining your situation."

"I know what you're doing." The genin muttered, her voice slurring slightly from exhaustion. "Trying to scare me... tryin' to... to make me work like you say... I'm Yamanaka, dammit... I know all that shit." She spat.

Haku looked at the blonde thoughtfully for a minute, before taking a step, her hands clasped before her.

Ino didn't know if to scowl or to wince. Or laugh, maybe.

The ANBU medic looked like a picture of a demure girl from a good family, in a fine, though unexpensive kimono, gifted with poise and grace. Like some blushing yamato nadeshiko waiting for her omiai and willing to play the nice, good housewife to a husband she never met. All softness, sugar, and 'ara' in that perfectly pitched, kind manner, with warm eyes and hands that looked too soft, too delicate to be real.

Ino was sick to her stomach just seeing this.

It was all a lie, it was all a fucking hypocrisy and impossibility and a cruel joke that left an acidic aftertaste that was just disgusting. Those hands couldn't be soft, those eyes couldn't be warm and that smile just sent chills down her spine. Or it might have been the ice mirrors circling them, Ino wasn't sure.

"Ino-san, do you know what Naruto-sama told me?" Haku said, her voice thoughtful, kind and with that odd, reverent note whenever that name was mentioned.

Ino, if it was possible, felt even more sick. Another brick to that house holding the sweetness of the gentle woman. That light, happy, love-struck tone that was just. so. wrong.

"He told me that you are a trooper. A survivor. He told me Yamanaka Ino is tough, but she isn't stupid. That she can take it," The ice mistress turned to Ino, her face marred by no grimace, but the disappointment and a chiding note of disapproval were there, plain as day. "But you are acting like a stubborn child."

"Well sorry for disappointing your highness," The blonde said sweetly. "I guess that chain smoking bastard isn't so perfect after all."

One black eyebrow rose.

"You are an... interesting girl, Yamanaka Ino-san." The medic said after a long moment, her tone thoughtful. "And I admit, there is potential here but..." Ino didn't even have a chance to stiffen when the medic was suddenly there, right in front of her face.

It wasn't shunshin, it wasn't some kind of transportation technique - Ino barely felt any chakra used. As impossible as it seemed, it was just... speed. Speed Ino couldn't even begin to track, even after two weeks of daily hell.

It was humiliating on a level she didn't want to think about for a kunoichi who had the best physical scores in her year. But as Ino found out quickly, such petty things like the Academy rankings didn't matter here in the slightest.

"However, I would ask you not to talk about Naruto-sama like that." The inflection and tone didn't change but there was a deceptively soft, chilly quality in the older woman's tone now and Ino could resist the slight shudder that went through her.

She thought she had her pegged after a day - a kind woman, if a stern taskmaster.

She thought she had her pegged after a week - ANBU, medic and apparently an excellent cook.

In the end, Ino knew less than she had at the beginning of those sessions, aside from the fact that insulting the blond blockhead was ill advised. And the 'hows' or 'whys' of it all were something she preferred not to contemplate, given the math. Because one plus one plus one equaled three the last time she did the counting.

That Inuzuka gal was bad enough, being open and shameless, but in her own, seemingly demure way... Haku was far worse.

She was a Yamanaka, they learned to read the basic behavioral patterns early - after all, the infiltration was more than just 'hello, I'll hijack your body now, thank you' kind of deal. Sure, she wasn't the best, she was still green but...

Haku was smooth, graceful, cultured and kind to almost everyone. And yet when you caught them together, whenever one on one, or all together, then it was all so... close.

So innocent, so natural, so smooth and flowing and...

And almost disturbingly erotic, to Ino's never ending shame, as her heart started to beat a little faster and cheeks tinged with pink.

Hana's open, cheerful affection she could deal with. The subtle... thing, for she had no name for it, that Haku was almost emanating around Naruto... Oh, that was a far tougher nut to crack. Tougher, but almost disturbingly exciting to watch, with all of the guilty pleasure of becoming a voyeur into that little space of forbidden.

So she dealt with it. Dealt with it like Ino - she rushed straight into the wall, and she did her damn best to break it, crush it. Drown it in the deluge of exhaustion, sweat, dirt and painful afternoons filled with endless stream of exercises and blooming injuries as her flesh turned into a map of carefully applied pain that it learned to both take and deal out.

Apparently, it wasn't working nearly as well as she had hoped.

"Very well," Haku nodded slowly, as if to herself. "I see words will mean little."

The mirrors of ice that floated around them suddenly just... rose. Straight out of the water, no wires, nothing. Ino blinked as the icy mirrors floated - goddamn floated! - over the surface, circling them in their chilly elegance.

The four mirrors flowed... and then there were eight.

And they spun, the sun reflecting on them merrily, with a promise that made her wary.

"Combat is an important part of your ANBU ability but you rush into it. Confidence is good. Skill is even better. However, there is an old adage that rings true. Especially for us, shinobi."

Ino froze as Haku vanished, the medic's form suddenly appearing in one mirror. Then another. Then another. Then another.

The blonde's eyes scanned the frozen surfaces madly, spinning, trying to follow the rapid movement that was again beyond her, only to stiffen as something cold, smooth and oh-so-sharp touched her neck, drawing a tiny droplet of blood.

"See..." Haku's breath caressed the genin's ear gently, almost a mockery in its own way "There is always someone better."

Without even a chance to scream, Ino's world turned into a blur of frozen pain.

* * *

Naruto blinked, staring at the drenched, prone body for a long moment.

"Wow. Doesn't she look like a drowned rat." He said finally, poking the blonde a few times, but getting no response. "What happened?"

"She fainted." Haku said calmly, dusting her hands off the minute icy specks that fell to the floor like some cheap imitation of snow, melting almost at once as they left her body.

"Fainted." Naruto said blankly.

"Fainted." Haku nodded, walking to the kitchen, before stopping and looking at her partner thoughtfully. "Has she ever washed any clothes"  
The blond blinked at the odd question.

"I have no idea." He said with a shrug. "Why?"

"Ah. Then she'll have to learn, I think." The brunette said calmly.

"What do you mean?" The boy looked at the ice mistress curiously.

"Naruto-sama, please." Haku frowned. "Do you know how hard it is to get dust, grime and sweat off that couch?"

"Ah." The the blond nodded slowly as the young woman vanished in the corridor. He looked at the unconscious girl on the couch thoughtfully for a minute before sighing and crafting several simple fuuton type seals he slapped on her clothes - it wasn't much, but at least she'd be dry pretty fast.

"Your life just reached a whole new level of suck, you know that?"

Bruised and sweaty, Ino kept on slumbering, not even stirring from the comfortable couch.

"Sleep tight." Naruto threw a blanket over the prone form. "For tomorrow is a whole new day for you. Unfortunately."

* * *

Ino's teeth chattered, and she took a deep breath, vigorously rubbing her arms for warmth.

She was cold, she was wet, she was miserable - and she was covered in frozen leaves.

"This is really disappointing. I mean, this is disappointing on a level that surpasses just disappointing." The bland, emotionless voice was circling her, shifting and changing pitch, becoming a scream and a whisper at a moment's notice. "I am not even all that good of a genjutsu user."

Ino's teeth chattered.

Kai was a wonderful technique - mold some chakra, snap a single seal and send the pulse that jarred your senses just enough for the whole illusory shebang to waver, your brain decide that 'yes, it is fishy, not real, I want my reality back, thank you!' and welcome you back to the sunny glade of the real, warm sun and chippering birds.

"Come on, girl." The emotionless facade dropped, leaving mockery in its wake. "Make some effort. Show me!"

"S-S-Shut... UP!" Ino snarled, rubbing her arms constantly now. Sitting in the snow, ice and rain for half an hour had that curious effect on the body.

"Seesh." The sigh reverberated through the clearing, "Remind me to push you on to Kurenai when we get the chance."

The snow swirled, before vanishing, the glade melting into the rich green and oh-so-wonderful yellow, with only two dots of mocking and hateful white in front of her, the fishnet gone for once, leaving shorts that looked to be rather tight cutoffs of the ANBU armor undermesh and a tube top that ended somewhere around the breasts, barely covering them and leaving whole midriff bare, displaying the twin dragoon tattoo in its indecent glory almost in entirety.

"Kurenai-san has her own genin team to train, Yashiro." Haku said from her perch on the tree.

"She has a spineless main-house princess, an Inuzuka mutt whose grasp of tactics comes down to 'charge!' and an Aburame." The ex-Hyuuga snorted derisively. "Like she has one illusionist in her crew. Yeah. Riiiight."

"Hey, hey, hey... That mutt's my younger brother." Hana threw a small pebble in Yashiro's general direction, which Hyuuga deflected on automatic. "Though he is kinda dim."

"And I wouldn't put down that girl either." Naruto said lazily, not bothering to open his eyes, his head propped on Hana's knee. "Kurenai said she's got one of the highest scores in general arts and pretty good chakra control."

"Then you obviously don't know Hinata, blondie." The ex-Hyuuga sighed. "Don't get me wrong - while her Byakugan isn't some kind of a super-miracle like that old bastard Hiashi would have wished for, the gal is her mother's daughter - she has loads of potential. Problem is, she won't ever use it right. She lacks the mentality - she should never have been a shinobi in the first place."

Hana raised an eyebrow curiously, and even Naruto opened his eyes.

"Hyuuga are forced into a... mold, of sorts." Yashiro explained. "Byakugan is cool and shit, but it needs specific conditions and trianing to be used to its fullest potential. Problem with that is that the old Main House bastards don't notice that Jyuuken isn't the solution to everything. Hyuuga must be a taijutsu master, must learn to utilize Byakugan and master the forms of Jyuuken - that's their definition of a good Hyuuga ninja. She doesn't fit it."

"Not to blow holes, but I've seen you in action, princess." Kyo said lazily. "Jyuuken is powerful. Close up, it kicks ass - you can even use it at a medium distance, disrupt enemy jutsu, incapacitate, kill, detect falsehood, read opponents..."

"And you can get your eyes burned out by overwhelming chakra shadow or a simple flash of intense light when you are looking too close." The ex-Hyuuga said calmly. "Or you can burn your fucking hands when you strike a freak of nature who has more chakra than a whole squad combined and when it is fucking toxic."

Naruto chuckled, and Yashiro shot him a mildly annoyed glare.

"Not my fault!" The blond protested. "How was I supposed to know that that stuff would react like that! What am I, jinchuuriki research bureau with a crew of one, or something?"

"You could have fucking warned me you know." The taijutsu mistress grumbled. "If I knew you're the container for that fox I'd never dream of attacking your chakra system directly, you shithead."

"Feh. You're annoyed I kicked your ass." The boy snickered.

"Feel lucky I'm too lazy right now to get up and show how you 'kicked my ass' again."

"Excuses, excuses," Sing-songed the blond.

"Fuck you, midget." She flipped him a bird.

"Sorry, that's my job." Hana grinned, throwing her arm around the blond's neck lazily. "You don't get to touch that, glass-eyes."

"I tend to like the fully grown specimens." The ex-Hyuuga sniffed, patting the True Sniper's head on her lap.

"Yeah, I feel so loved." The scruffy-looking man rolled his eyes, the coin dancing over his knuckles as if on its own. "We should post an official protest, or something. They are using us like vibrators, or some unfeeling sex toys, Lt."

"Better that than the couch." Yashiro tapped his forehead, letting a small burst of chakra dance between her fingers before sliding down the sniper's head, leaving a cool, pleasant wave.

"Well, there is that." The man sighed, before peering up at the impressive cleavage. "And the view is great. Mountains wherever you look... I always loved climbing."

"Perv." Yashiro giggled, before kissing her partner.

"Get a room, you two." Hana grumbled at the couple. "Seesh, will you give it a rest? You've been fucking like rabbits ever since we got the leave."

The duo broke the kiss, blinking at the Inuzuka, before shrugging.

"So?"

It was incredible how they could seem like a one person in those moments, given their radically different personalities. Though it might have been because they just filled out what the other lacked, Naruto supposed. It was almost too weird how they were yin to each other's yang and vice versa. Even their fighting styles - Kyo's long-range sniping arts and Yashiro's close-combat taijutsu mastery seemed to both contradict and complete each other.

Hana rolled her eyes wordlessly while Naruto just chuckled.

"So." The ex-Hyuuga leaned forward, looking at Ino who finally stopped looking blue around the edges and ceased shivering. "What have we learned today?"

"Beyond the fact you are a bunch of fucking maniacal sadists?" The Yamanaka glared at the team.

"We're ANBU, honey." The taijutsu expert shrugged. "We are paid to be a bunch of maniacal sadists."

"We are paid to be a bunch of _professional_ maniacal sadists." Tenrou, who as like was her wont, drinking some freshly brewed tea and was silent until now, said pleasantly.

"Thank you." Yashiro nodded. "So, what have we learned, besides that?"

Ino glared, refusing to so much as budge even under the unnerving stare of the lavender orbs.

"I can't hear you, rookie." The ex-Hyuuga's velvety voice turned into sharp steel for a briefest of moments and Ino flinched inwardly, finally lowering her eyes.

"...I can't break genjutsu." She muttered.

"'Can't break genjutsu'?" Yashiro's inky eyebrow rose. "That's it? No, girl. I'll tell you what we learned today. We learned that your control over your mind is decent, but it sucks when it comes to body. We learned you can't lie effectively, that your pain threshold is too low and that you are impatient. We learned that your chakra reserves suck and you don't know nearly enough about genjutsu to learn that it has more than simply one layer and isn't just skin deep. We learned that any mildly capable ninja would gut you like a fish with just a bit of illusion and some patience." Yashiro's voice was chilly. "Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Ino just gritted her teeth, refusing to look up. Challenging the taijutsu mistress to the contest of will or something like a stare down was just ridiculous - Ino had enough bruises and humiliation as it was.

"Team 4 has an unofficial specialization in genjutsu-intensive cases. It might be unofficial, but we do get those cases, rookie. Breaking like that under a low class area genjutsu isn't an option." Hana said calmly. "You will learn to get through this, by sheer willpower if needed." She looked at Ino with half-lidded eyes. "I promise you that."

"Give her a break, bitch." Kyo said lazily, shuffling a deck of cards "She's learning. She's still green, you know."

"She can't afford to be." The captain said bluntly, looking at Ino. "Shape up, girl. This isn't a game anymore. Wake up and smell the java - reality's knocking. If you want to be a part of this team, you need to contribute, we need to know you're good enough to keep both yourself and others alive."

The blonde snorted softly, looking away.

"No one asked me if I want to be the part of this outfit." She muttered.

"Oh?" Naruto sat up, popping a cigarette into his mouth. "That's bothering you, eh?"

"And it shouldn't?" The blonde scowled, looking at her lieutenant. "I'm picked form my genin team, from my friends, from my home and thrown into... into this," she waved her hand at the general vicinity. "You kick my ass day after day, you don't explain things worth shit, you just push and push and fucking push without saying a goddamn word!" She exploded, her frayed nerves finally crumbling and letting loose, "Does it bother me? You sure as fucking hell can BET it bothers me, you fucker!" She snarled. "I don't know why I am here, I don't know what I'm doing and don't get explanations worth SHIT! I just get orders, pushing, and that... that... little mockery of a fucking homemaker with a psychotic complex that stabs me in the mornings and gives me dinner in the afternoons, all with the same bland smile that I am fucking starting to hate!" She pointed at Haku. "You just sit back, smoke and go the 'wise master' shtick on me while that glass-eyed maniac rapes my senses for fun and profit daily! All that and my father says nothing, my mother throws a fit, masked fuckers fly all around without even noticing me save to give me orders I don't even UNDERSTAND and I don't know jack shit! Now tell me, am I fucking BOTHERED?!" She heaved, her hands shaking. "FUCK YES I am bothered!"

Naruto took a long drag off his cigarette, staring at the trembling blonde, who in the middle of the tirade somehow found herself standing and gesticulating wildly, her arms shaking, hands clenched into fists teeth clenched so hard that she could swear they were grinding loud enough for all of the ANBU to hear.

Finally, he let out a deluge of smoke, cracking a grin that looked both amused and oddly... skewed at the same time.

"Welcome to the wonderful world of black operations. Enjoy your stay, 'cause we charge by the day." He said flippantly.

"I have no idea why did the Hokage order you to be here, but you don't have a choice." Hana shrugged. "You need to learn to live with it, or you won't get far."

"Three months is a short time, Ino-san. Especially considering you lack much of the training chuunin assigned to ANBU units usually already have." Haku explained calmly. "Because of that, we will push you that much more. Neither you, nor we, have any choice in the matter."

"See, thing is..." Naruto let out a cloud of smoke "You've got your orders, and we've got ours."

"Ours is not to question." Tenrou said stoically, her face devoid of all emotion save almost inhuman serenity. "Ours is to obey and accomplish by any means necessary."

"See, ANBU is a little bit like a magic lamp." Kyo explained, propping his elbow on Yashiro's bare thigh "The Hokage gets the lamp, rubs it and says his wish - and lo and behold, he gets it!" He looked at Ino, snapping his fingers. "Hows and whys don't interest him. He says a wish, and he gets it - that's all that matters to him. He gave the order, and we must accomplish it. And so have you."

Ino sat on the ground heavily.

"I get it, I get it!" She muttered, dragging her hand through the golden hair in a tired gesture. "It is just... no one talks to me, you know? No one explains anything, and it is all so... so damn unsure. I don't know anything!"

"This is how ANBU live." Tenrou took a sip from her bowl.

"Yeah? Then I don't know if I want to be one." The Yamanaka girl grumbled. "But... it's not like I have a choice, right?"

Hana shrugged.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't and no one tells me jack...Fucking shit." The blonde chuckled, rubbing her forehead. "This job sucks, you know that?"

Yashiro nodded solemnly.

"You are approaching wisdom, grasshopper." She said sagely.

"Ah screw you." Ino threw a handful of grass at the Hyuuga, before slapping herself and stretching her stiff body a few times. "Hit me."

The snow swirled again.

Ino gritted her teeth, glaring at the white nemesis.

'This time you're going down, bitch!'

* * *

The morning, as always, came too fucking early. Adhering to the long-held ritual, the cigarette was in his mouth before he left the bed. It was good Haku was out in the hospital, or she'd give him that soulful, disappointed stare about smoking in the sheets. Oddly enough, she didn't seem to mind that in the middle of the night - just hated it when he did that in the mornings.

"What's the damn difference...?" He muttered, sliding off the bed and migrating to the furo, throwing a look at the to-do list for the day.

'...D-ranks with the bastard again. Oh joy.' The blond thought sourly, taking a drag off his cigarette.

It was nice that the mission was easy, since they didn't leave the village and all, but still... D-ranks? It was kinda insulting. Good for reading time but not much else - if not for the seal manuals he'd be bored out of his mind. Hell, he'd prolly pick up the Icha Icha reading habit from the bastard, it was that mind-numbingly boring.

'Probably why he's doing it,' The blond decided, sinking into the bathtub with a sigh. The cigarette was, amazingly, untouched - it was an art he learned early on, considering how much of those he had to smoke.

Well, not had to had to, but it was always better safe then sorry - bijuu influencing his chakra system was not something he wanted to deal with more than he already did. The burn was bad enough as it was.

He leaned back in the furo, only to curse as he heard a familiar, metallic sound. The young ANBU closed his eyes, sighing heavily, and slid his hand to the left.

Short. Massive. Ugly. Sharp. Looked more like a meat cleaver, if not for the unmistakable combat shape and the quality of the steel.

Naruto frowned, looking at it curiously.

"Okay, where and when the hell did I get you?" He muttered curiously, looking the cleaver over for a few seconds, before sighing and throwing it to the side. "Whatever. Who the fuck cares this early."

The weapon vanished before it hit the wooden floor.

Naruto reached for another cigarette.

He seriously had to learn not to summon anything when he was drunk. He always forgot to summon them back. If there was another chopped furo incident because of that, Haku would get... irritated.

Naruto hated sleeping on the couch.

* * *

Naruto had a very curious and rather annoyingly complicated relationship with the color orange.

He loved it, he adored it and thought it was the single coolest color ever since he was four. His first action when he left the orphanage (or was kindly thrown out of, rather) was to buy a blindingly orange shirt and wearing it until he outgrew it. He wore an orange jumpsuit when he made genin, and he bought an even better one with a payoff from his first mission. In fact, he still had three separate, deliciously orange jumpsuits in his closet.

There was, however, a small problem with wearing them.

As much as he loved the vibrancy, vitality and just sheer coolness that was orange, he had found that he couldn't wear it anymore to his eternal despair. At all. It wasn't even that ANBU had a dress code (which they had) but the Ops usually didn't use uniforms, per se. It was just his ANBU-trained instincts, helped by seven separate incidents when he got tagged by a jutsu or outright stabbed by a weapon drove the point home. As awesome as orange was, wearing it in the field was beyond stupid and reached into the realms of suicidal by a fair margin.

That, and Yashiro threatened to burn every little bit of orange she could find if he didn't stop wearing it - with her eyes she tended to get headaches of epic proportions just by looking at him.

Three years of paranoia-enhanced non-orangeness served to shift him towards more utilitarian shades. Considering he spent a lot of time in the field, it became more than just a habit.

Now, to his eternal chargrin, Naruto found he couldn't wear orange. Not in the village, not in his home, not in training. Nada. Nowhere. Because the very moment he put something - anything - orange on, the little gears in his mind started turning in a most uncomfortable manner, cranking that nice little spiral of happy paranoia that was every shinobi's best friend, and kept turning, spinning, itching and pissing him off until he shed any orange he had on his person.

A tragedy. Truly. It could drive the man to drink.

Not that Naruto didn't try, of course.

The blond glared at the deliciously vibrant awesomeness of the orange jacket with determination for a long moment, before cursing and stashing it back in his closet.

"Some day... One day, you and me, bitch!" He pointed at the closet. "Just you see!"

He stalked away angrily, grabbing a far more subdued brown jacket off the rack and shrugged it on, only to halt, hearing a tell-tale metallic sound.

"...what the...?"

Naruto turned, only to blink at the several swords laying on the floor, neatly grouped together.

"What's going on...?" He muttered, grabbing one of the blades, and inspecting it. As always, it gave off a faint, almost unnoticeable surge of chakra.

It was an oddity, one he had found only after using the Mugen no Ken over a period of time - the weapons, even when they were not chakra blades, held a 'charge' in them, something that felt more like an extension of himself than a weapon. Each time he held one of his blades, he could feel it - pulsing slightly under his fingers, carrying over to his whole body. Hana thought he was crazy, since she couldn't detect anything but bare steel, but after some extensive study via Byakugan, Yashiro confirmed it. The chakra was odd for a weapon, the ex-Hyuuga said. Not external, like when one channeled it over a chakra blade to activate it, but more.. internal. Interwoven within the form and shape of the sword from the inside out, becoming the integral part of a weapon. Breath of steel, Yashiro called it. Like a living being, or even a summon. Well, it was a summon, but it wasn't exactly alive. It was just steel, wood - weapons. Countless weapons, but just weapons none the less.

Though sometimes, Naruto wondered. Each time he picked a new weapon, each time he grabbed something and absorbed into the contract he felt... familiarity. Oh, he trained with most of them - Kage Bunshin was useful like that. But it went beyond that. Each weapon he absorbed, he picked up with almost ridiculous ease. Not exactly the way to fight with it, but what it was. Every curve, every shift of steel, every shape down to the smallest detail. Things even the best of blacksmiths had trouble divining, he knew them all. And in some odd, unexplainable way, he felt as it they knew him as well, down to the very bones, to the smallest particle of his being.

They couldn't hurt him - he had found that early on, after some overeager blunder on his part left an enemy with one of his released zanbatou in his hands. The sword descended, striking him square on and it just... stopped. It didn't cut him. Hell, the side swing didn't even leave a bruise, save for kicking him back some!

Then the guy started screaming, blood flowing from his hands, the hilt of the zanbatou suddenly erupting with edges, spikes and bits and pieces of various weapons Naruto was _sure_ he didn't summon.

The enemy chuunin ended as mincemeat, the countless blades ripping his hands off, until he fell at the almost absurdly fortuitously placed edge of the large sword he tried to take. It was is if the sword fell, and fell just right enough to bury its hilt into the ground to be steady for those precious seconds to catch the guy falling and skewer him through.

He became rather paranoid of his own summon for weeks afterwards, until Tenrou stubbornly nagged him to not only unseal it, but delve 'deeper' than just summoning a weapon or two.

He was scared, he wasn't afraid to admit it. He was scared shitless of that thing, and for a very good reason. For one, it was an accident, involving Kyuubi's chakra and who the fuck knew what it could do? He was so delirious and cut up then he didn't really know what happened. Only thing he knew was that Mugen no Ken was unique. No one ever had done anything like it, no one ever heard of anything like it before him. By extension, no one understood how and even why it worked the way it did. At first, it was just awesome - sure, everybody could seal a weapon in a scroll, but who could summon them just out of thin air? In that kind of quantity, no less? He could make it rain steel if he wanted to, how cool was that?

It stopped being so 'cool' when Kanna, who wasn't just the ANBU Commander and all around grumpy goth loli from hell, but also one of the best summoners and seal specialist out there, sat him down and explained the dangers. Naruto was fairly spooked when she calmly explained the many potential dangers of Mugen no Ken, which was then nameless still. After a fairly graphic description of what happened if one day he, say, summoned the weapons inside himself, rather than outside, he was a rather sickly shade of green for hours. That was before he learned that none of 'his' weapons could hurt him, of course.

But Tenrou nagged, in that spooky, silently forceful manner of hers.

"It trusts you to hold it. Trust the steel, it will trust you in turn." She said time and time again.

Eventually, he caved in. He quickly found that as weird and flat out insane the swordmistress could be at times, she was right. It was a beginning of an odd and beautiful friendship between the boy and his arsenal, one that took the tinges of a rather steamy love affair fairly quickly.

Of course, as useful and flat out awesome his Mugen no Ken was, it had its... quirks, and sometimes they raised their heads.

Like now.

"Hey, you wanna tell me something?" Naruto peered at the sword in his hand curiously.

The steel, as was its wont, didn't answer. Not that Naurto expected it to, but it never hurt to ask, right? After all, people said that talking to plants helped them, right? Steel didn't grow, but, hey - it was alive in a sense, right? The same principle applied. Somewhat.

"Not going to answer, huh?" The blond grinned. "Probably bored, ain't ya? Don't worry, we'll cut loose afterwards. For now just... calm down, eh?"

The cold steel vanished, as Naruto stretched, recalling the wayward weapons back.

"Yeah. Just calm down for now. For now." He muttered, walking out of the door.

* * *

"Tora, Tora, Tora..." Naruto tsked, holding the cat by the scruff of its fur. "How many genin teams do you have to drive to the brink of madness, buddy?"

The cat meowed before purring as it rubbed Naruto's hand shamelessly.

While the furball ran from almost anyone, ninja included (really damn amazing feat, when you thought about it) it rarely gave Naruto trouble in his own genin days, when he was still a kitten. Afterwards, he became somewhat more skittish. Not that Naruto didn't sympathize considering the keg of overly affectionate lard on legs that was his 'mistress', but Tora liked Naruto. Not that it was something all that odd - cats tended to like him. He didn't know why exactly it was so, but they did. Be it the softest, laziest Persian, the haughty Balinese, the noble Siamese or the meanest street stray - they all flocked to him.

In fact, cats were among his first friends when he was a kid and lived alone in his ratty apartment. He couldn't really afford to feed them then, but they still came about, friendly as you please. Hell, he learned his first sneaking paths and backdoor alleys to run through after a prank from those very strays. After he went to ANBU and got the better pay, he made a point of discreetly feeding the hungry cats, something Haku picked up on rather quickly and learned to appreciate and emulate. Though given that she was once a 'stray' like that herself and actually far worse off that those cats...

Naruto shook his head, trying to chase those images of the past. If he didn't find her then... They really owed Tsunade more than they could ever repay. He still had nightmares of that chain, and that dirty alley full of blood. He really didn't want to think about it.

'Guess strays and runaways flock together, huh?' He smiled at the cat, scratching Tora under the chin.

It was bizarre, considering he slept with an Inuzuka, but his house and land had at least one or two affectionate furballs on it at any given time, usually more - far more in winter months.

Still, Naruto had a really soft spot for Tora - the cat was a sneaky, willy little ball of fur and a natural-born rebel. No matter how many times that tub of lard closed off seemingly every escape avenue, Tora the Rebel managed to somehow slink away and have the dubious honor of the first cat to have a record of sixty seven D-class two C-class (when he ran out of the village) and one A (which involved enemy nin, of all things) recovery mission.

In Naruto's eyes, Tora was just damn impressive, not to mention they were old friends from way back. Bad luck for Team 7 to pick up this particular assignment.

"I really should get you back, you know." He muttered to the cat, before grinning. "But just between the two of us, old pal..." He performed a quick Kage Bunshin, handing the madly purring cat to it. The bunshin smirked, before vanishing with the animal.

"Heh. Try to find him now, suckers. Run Tora, run! Make me proud, man!" He snickered, sitting on a tree and opening his seal manual.

The chances that they'd find the cat were very slim now, and they weren't all that good to begin with. After all, pinky and the Uchiha were insistent on looking in the village proper. Tora was way too smart for that, something that Naruto knew very well.

The animal quickly discovered that the northern side of Konoha, off the side of the Hokage monument, had a number of nice clearings and caves that you could hide in very effectively. Tora was a veteran escape artist, after all - he knew his stuff. Kakashi could track the cat, but the one-eyed waste of space decided to 'look' for Tora with Icha Icha in hand. Which meant he wasn't going to be seen for next hour or so, given his habits.

'Fucker didn't change at all.' Naruto thought with a scowl.

If not for the fact that he had different subordinates now, Naruto would have sworn it was a verbatim flashback to his genin days. Complete with the bastard 'letting them gain experience' by 'coordinating' and 'evaluating' their missions from distance.

'Like there is anything to evaluate!' He snorted. 'Well, aside from teamwork, I guess. What a waste of time...'

Still, he couldn't complain. So far each and every mission was in the village, or on the outskirts. Kakashi's habits were a blessing in disguise - the guy wasn't going to take a C-lass. Not now anyhow.

Given his past experience, Naruto knew that until Team 7 finally worked guts enough to flat out disobey him and demand a real mission, and do it collectively as a unit, then he'd not take C-class for the foreseeable future. Kakashi was weird like that. Though Naruto genuinely didn't know if it was because he was simply lazy, or because he preferred the hands off approach.

'Probably a little bit of both.' He admitted grudgingly.

He had a problem with Kakashi, Naruto knew that well. He was unreasonable towards the jounin, even he could see it, even admit it. Self delusion didn't work all that well in ANBU as far as survival was concerned. That and he ahd countless sessions with shrinks and Inoichi - he knew more about himself than he ever really wanted to.

But the hard truth was Kakashi sucked as a teacher. He was a great shinobi, that much was true - Naruto weathered enough hardship in ANBU to have respect for the older man's power. Kakashi, unlike many of his peers, was nearly as good as his legend, in many respects. That was admirable, and he had to give credit where credit was due - Hatake was an awesomely powerful ninja when he cut loose, a first class technician when it came to jutsu. Not just because of his Sharingan as well.

All that said, the man was a waste as a human being and a piss-poor teacher. Epicly bad, even, and far too used to being right to realize that. Problem was, that cost lives. Or at least one life, and one teammate too many. This Naruto would never forgive him. Team 13 wasn't some miracle team, it wasn't full of geniuses and they clashed at times, but they were his friends. They were like family to him, the first he had ever known, the first that accepted him, the first that cared. Now, Kazuya was dead and Saya...

Naruto leaned back on the tree, staring into his book blankly, letters nothing more than some meaningless symbols containing nothing but gibberish.

It... hurt. Time dulled the edge a little, time and hectic pace of ANBU missions, as well as his friends and lovers but... It still hurt. He once thought that not being acknowledged by villagers hurt the most, but he knew better now. Acknowledgment from that faceless mass he could live without - it didn't bother him anymore. He had the acknowledgment and love of those who mattered and that was enough.

The ANBU shook his head, scowling. He hated going introspective like that. He knew it wasn't exactly his fault, considering what rattled inside of his skull but it still annoyed him, even after all those sessions with Inoichi and Sanae. The world used to be so much simpler then - just try and try and try until you got it right and if it didn't hold, bash its head until it caved in!

Then the one, little seal changed his world forever.

"Nao... You bitch." He muttered, though without the heat, closing his eyes.

After all, even after all this time, the jury was still out on this one and the older he got, the less certain of anything he was becoming. Though for that at least he could blame her.

"...Gah." He scowled. 'Fuck but I'm turning broody...! Emo! Another thing to blame that Hatake bastard for. Stupid, one-eyed shithead.'

In the end, it was paranoia that saved him.

Years in the field, combat, black operations and living with danger on constant basis honed Naruto's senses and his body to the point he reacted before consciously recognizing the threat. No thought, no doubt slowed him down - his body just moved, bypassing any reasoning altogether, instead falling back on pure, animalistic instinct and training all but beat into it.

Even as Naruto's body moved, it was not a moment too soon, as the branch he had been sitting exploded, pulverized into splinters. His hands moving even as his body twisted on its own accord, the blond barely found himself able to block a vicious backhand, followed by a palm strike that sent him skidding back as he and his assailant hit the ground.

'What the f-!'

It was like fighting a blindingly white blur of stabs, punches, kicks and strikes that were something in between, starting with one, ending with another. Speed and raw force rained upon his forearms and torso, knocking the wind form him and young ANBU instantly regretted not wearing his armor.

The strike was from the mid-distance, by all rights it shouldn't be that hard, and yet it was like being hit with a battering ram. His momentary loss of breath left him at a mercy of a vicious uppercut, followed by the elbow that sent him crashing into the tree. Naruto could swear he heard his ribs cracking. Or maybe it was the wood breaking? He wasn't quite sure.

He was no taijutsu buff - in fact, until after he made genin, his hand to hand combat skills didn't exist, and resembled some aimless, enthusiastic if sloppy brawling than any proper combat style. His genin days, though, gave him a solid base, after he saw what a good taijutsu practitioner can do. ANBU honed those skills and developed them further. The blond was no master, as weapons and ninjutsu were his specialties, but sometimes taijutsu was just a priceless survival skill and Naruto learned what he could from the resident taijutsu nut in his team. And yet this person, whoever it was, was pushing him and slapping him around the clearing with almost ridiculous ease and absurd amount of sheer power.

Naruto gritted his teeth, meeting the palm strike with a hard, offensive block, only to wince in pain.

"...the fuck... You're made... of?" He blinked, sliding back.

His opponent grinned, coming one hand through her silky tresses. Her very nice, very well kept silky tresses. As nice as her simple, but expensive looking clothes that were quite flattering on the lithe, slim figure.

Naruto just stood there, staring.

THIS was the person who was pushing him back? Not that he didn't respect kunoichi - he had three of them, all stone cold killers, in his team and he knew very well just what kind of power they packed. Still... The woman looked just... just girly, as stupid as it sounded.

The perfectly unblemished face more befitting a court lady, hairpins that cost more than his first ANBU armor, he'd bet. Not to mention clothes like that, simple or not, were clearly tailored and didn't look cheap by any stretch of imagination. She was young, but it was the kind of youth that could be a mature teenager or a woman in her twenties - the kind of timeless complexion that most women would kill to have and spent fortunes to emulate, but not a face Naruto knew.

Still... There was something about that woman... Something that scraped at the edge of his consciousness in a worst way...

"Who are you? Why did you attack me?" His eyes narrowed. "Who sent you?"

The woman's smirk only widened a fraction and she was upon him in the less time it took to blink.

Naruto cursed inwardly, swaying to the left and using knife-hand to stab at her torso, before twisting and trying to plant his fist in the solar plexus and nearly getting his arm broken for it.

'Idiot! You should have summoned the weaponry at once!' He scolded himself even as she entered his guard, almost planting her knee in his ribcage somehow.

'Too fancy.' Naruto thought with a smirk. 'That's going to cost you-'

He sailed up and the world seemed to stand still for a briefest of moments.

'...she... twisted upside down...' He thought dumbly. 'She fucking hit. Me. Upside. _Down_.'

It was an absurd waste of energy, stupidly risky and breached the realms of utter stupidity. By all rights, he should have stopped her mid-somersault and break her to pieces by striking her spine and yet she just did it. Just like that, and he didn't even see it coming. It was crazy, it was absurd,it was suicidical it was...

...it was exactly what he needed.

The young ANBU let himself be carried by the strike, rolling with it even further until he was upside down, and kicked back, using the much-abused tree as a springboard, before slamming his elbow down her thigh. This time he was ready and the feeling of corded muscle, as hard as steel, didn't surprise him. He just let himself flow with it, sacrificing power for mobility until he had the firm step on the ground. The long range taijutsu was a waste of time for him - he might have grown quite a bit since his midget days, especially considering how much Kyuubi's raging pushed his growth cycle to handle the power more efficiently, but he was still shorter than most fully grown adults. That meant he had to compensate with something nasty, vicious and kept in close range to rob his opponents of the leverage and power, turning their size against them.

And he had just the thing for that. It required plenty of power, but physical strength and raw stamina was something he had quite enough of. Abundantly so.

Naruto stomped down, his fist unclenching, fingers curling slightly even as his hands turned into a rake that struck in a rapid, forward move viciously...

...only to meet a perfectly timed counter.

The woman looked at him, grinning over their clenched hands, before laughing out loud.

"Now that's the stuff!" She said, her voice lower and rougher than one would expect of her frame "Feeling it? Just..." She forced him back, grin growing even wider. "CUT LOOSE!"

Naruto's eyes widened, only to bug out as a vicious elbow, with all the girl's mass behind it that somehow just.. flowed around his own block and through it, met his lower ribcage.

"Aaaah." The young woman sighed in disappointment, looking down at the young ANBU as the blond tried to catch his breath through sudden feeling of suffocation her strike introduced. "Now look what you made me do... And we were having such a nice spot of fun, too...!" She sighed forlornly "Pay attention next time, mmmkay? You need to watch your opponent and have no mercy." She grinned. "Even if it is such a pretty girl like me!"

Naruto coughed, trying to focus his eyes on the... impossibility before him.

"S... S...!" he tried to cough out.

"Yes, yes YES!" The woman in white raised her fist upwards. "Give it to me, Naruto-kun! Give it to the world, so they know the winner of this, admittedly pathetic - but neechan will help you get back to shape, don't worry - bout!"

"...Saya...!" The blond finally said, his breath hitching in his throat. "What. The. FUCK?!"

"Oi!" The girl scowled, looming over him. "Is that the way to treat your bestest, most awesome, kickass friend in the whole wide world, who is also a pretty girl? EH?!" Tears appeared in her eyes. "Neechan's angry, dammit! Neechan's SAD! Neechan needs a hug!" She grabbed the blond tightly and Naruto's eyes bugged out. While Saya, despite her lithe form and had a figure of a woman with all the curves in the right places, her body was also one big cord of steely muscle under the deceptively soft skin. Especially when she put her prodigal, absurd strength into it.

"...Can't... Breathe...!" The blond wheezed out.

Saya blinked, before letting him go.

"Oh. Right." She said, chuckling, rubbing her neck sheepishly. "Sorry, Naruchin."

"...God! You're still... so stupidly strong...!" The blond coughed out, the bluish tinge vanishing from his face, before he looked at her, and blinked

The young ANBU stared at the sheepish looking woman for a long moment.

"YOU!" he said finally, pointing his finger accusingly. "Where the fuck were you for the last three years?! I've been looking for you all over, you stupid psycho chick!"

"Huh?" The taijutsu mistress blinked. "But I wrote letters-"

"What letters?!" Naruto snarled. "You vanished without a trace you goddamn stupid-"

"But I wrote you tons! You never answered, too." She loomed over him, a dark expression on her face, followed swiftly by tears. "Saya-chan thought you didn't love her anymore!"

"...Dammit, what LETTERS?!" Naruto screamed."I never got so much as a scrap of damn paper from you!"

"But I sent them! Every month, to the same address! How could you not have gotten them!" She scowled. "I even got one I wanted to send you, before I came back" She rummaged through her pockets for a moment, before withdrawing a rather abused looking envelope. "Here! See?"

Naruto grabbed the envelope with a scowl, only to pause, and stare at it. Then to stare at fuming Saya.

"Saya?" He said, eyebrow twitching. "You do know I haven't been living there for past three years, right?"

The girl blinked.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh." She said finally, after a moment of silence. "You didn't tell me!" She pointed at him accusingly. "You midget bastard! You made Saya-chan SAD! And to think I cared, I sent you all those awesome snacks and presents and wrote to your ungrateful ass every month...! How could you do that to me?!"

Naruto stared at the girl incredulously.

"...And what color is the sky in your world?" He deadpanned.

"Shut up!" The girl snapped, shaking her fist. "Saya-chan is sad! Hug!" Naruto blanched, jumping back.

"No way!" He protested. "You wanna kill me or something, you freak?!"

The girl leaned over the blond, cracking her knuckles and Naruto paled even further.

"Hugyesofcourserightawaymaa'am!"

Her face turned sunny once again, the scary visage of fury vanishing as if it was never there.

Naruto froze, staring without so much as moving a muscle for a long moment, before looking down, and up and down at her legs again.

"Found something you like, Naruto-kun?" The girl grinned, posing in a way that would make most pin up girls green with envy.

"Saya..."

"Yessss?" The girl preened.

"...You're standing." He said dumbly.

"Well, yes." She nodded. "People kind of do that when they are not walking."

"And you're walking... Normally." The blond said, a blank, vacant look on his face.

"Well, people kind of do that too." The young woman said patiently. "I can even run, jump, swim, do splits, poledance and kick your ass." She grinned. "I'm very talented like that."

"Gods... Saya..." Naruto said slowly, sheer disbelief in his eyes. "You're... walking. Walking like your leg is... How is that...?"

The girl sighed, taking a step forward and grabbing him in a warm, close hug that broke all rules of propriety or good manners. They just didn't care at that point. It held the familiar softness, smell of grass, feel of soft silks and fragrance of the jasmine perfume she favored that Naruto had burned into his mind so long ago and that was enough.

He felt like he was a kid again, when everything was cool, fresh and so much simpler and vibrant orange was the color of the day. Like when he could grimace and push away the hug and scream with indignation at the aloof bastard of a swordsman or whine for a jutsu from his ever-late teacher. It was all jasmine, and grass, and silk and the familiar, faint aura of free flowing power of her Celestial Gates that lingered even when she didn't use them...

"...S-Saya... I..." he tried. He really tried but in the end, it felt like his throat constricted no matter what he did and the strangely small, pitiful sound was something he couldn't recognize as his own voice. " I thought you were... gone. I..."

The girl squeezed him tighter, he could pretend his voice chocked and his eyes felt oddly wet because of the tight grip.

Saya was good like that.

"I'm home, Naruto." She whispered, holding him close and refusing to let go no matter what. "I'm home."

* * *

TBC...

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Special thanks for inspiration and advice go to Griever, MageOhki, Vasey, Skelethin and TFF in general – you know who you all are.

Edited by Skelethin.

*

Operator

Chapter 9

*

"The stacked deck"

*

Three years ago.

"...in addition, Natsume Saya will be stripped of her status as a shinobi of Konoha and given immediate discharge following the proceedings. Team Thirteen is to be officially disbanded and remaining shinobi reassigned after a period of evaluation lasting from three to six months by the disciplinary committee as well as medical evaluation as per the procedure. Furthermore-"

Naruto stood, but he could barely feel the wood panels under his feet that made up the courtroom's floor. To be honest, if the floor broke apart under his feet at this very moment it'd offer him safer footing than what he experienced now.

"...you... you can't do this!" He protested, his shaking hands balling into fists. "This... are you kidding me?! It's not fair!"

"Genin." Koharu's chilly voice was like a whip crack. "You will remain silent during-"

"Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!" The jinchuuriki exploded, causing the whole courtroom, small as it was, to almost reverberate with anger that seemed to ooze from the young shinobi. "You bastards... you goddamn...! Saya loved martial arts...! It was her _life_! Kazuya... that... that goddamn stupid stuffy moron gave his life for this village, gave it his all and now you... you just...!" Naruto seethed, acidic bile rising in his throat. "You can't do that! It's not _fair_!"

"Your teammate wasted his life in a foolhardy, irresponsible manner." A middle aged Jounin sitting next to the old kunoichi said calmly. "His mistake almost crippled the entire operation."

"HIS mistake?!" The blond said incredulously, "We didn't even know-!"

"You were told to remain in your position." Koharu's voice cut into Naruto's sentence like a knife. "You were ordered to remain and await extraction by your commander, yet you blatantly disregarded the orders-"

"We didn't have a choice!" Naruto protested vehemently. "We'd be surrounded and those guys were-!"

"You'd be safely hidden!" The old kunoichi snapped. "Your rash decision is what led to this embarrassing situation! Have you got any idea how many ninja that foolhardy decision almost cost this village?!"

"...aren't... aren't we your ninja as well?" The genin asked, his voice teetering on a brink of fury.

"Losing a genin or two is an acceptable loss in a vital operation." The third member of the committee, an attractive kunoichi in her thirties, said calmly.

Naruto's face paled, his fists clenching spasmodically as blood started to drip from the wounds made by his nails piercing the skin.

"...acceptable loss...? _Acceptable loss..._?! You BITCH I-!" He snarled, taking a step forward, only to halt as his limbs froze in place - a courtesy of a modified Kanashibari.

"The next such attempt will be met with jail time, genin." The kunoichi informed him in her calm, dispassionate voice. "You were warned."

Blood dripped from Naruto's palm, but all he could do was shake in impotent rage that caused the flickers of deep red to dance in his vision.

"This isn't right! We did nothing wrong and you... what, hang us out to fucking DRY?! You bastards... Kazuya sacrificed himself for us, he was better ninja, better man than all of you fucking bastards and you call it a mistake?!"

"Had your team followed orders this foolish sacrifice wouldn't be needed in the first place!" The Jounin snapped, losing his patience for the first time during the proceedings. "Your sensei-"

"Our 'sensei' left us to DIE!" The blond screamed in rage. "Where was he when we had to run from Tanigakure ninja?! Where was he when some bastard blew off Saya's leg?! Where was he when Tanigakure's shinobi carved Kazuya like a piece goddamn of meat, EH?! WHERE?!" His voice broke. "Hayate... Hayate almost couldn't recognize him afterwards... his own brother and he couldn't... and you call us... you call him a... a _mistake_?" A faint, reddish haze started to coalesce around Naruto as the ANBU holding him in the Kakanshibari wavered, the jutsu ripped as if it wasn't there. "How can you...?! Mistakes?! We are _mistakes_ and that bastard just... walks free?! After THIS?! This is your justice?! Covering his 'elite' ass because he is one of you?!"

"The decision had been made, and you will obey it." Koharu said calmly. "Additionally, for the blatant disrespect and unwillingness to cooperate during the proceedings, as well as behavior unbecoming of a Konoha shinobi, Uzumaki Naruto's shinobi status is hereby under six month suspension, effective immediately with all that it entails, and you are sentenced to house arrest for the duration. Your hitai-ate, along with weapons will be turned over to ANBU immediately." Koharu motioned to the nearby ANBU who walked up to Naruto, extending his hand.

The blond genin stared at the elite ninja for a long moment, before sliding off his headband. He looked at it for a long moment, before turning to Koharu and throwing it at her as fast as any shuriken. Any civilian would be injured, maybe even knocked out by the solid piece of steel, but Koharu, old or not, had once been among the most elite of jounin of Konoha and caught it without a problem.

"Nothing's changed, eh? Hitai-ate or not, it is all the same." He said bitterly. "I bet you've been just dying to do that, weren't you, old hag?"

The old woman looked at the hitai-ate for a long moment, her face unreadable, before turning to the blond genin.

"You are wrong, boy." She said, shaking her head slowly. "But I doubt I can convince you."

Naruto just barked a mirthless laugh.

The old kunoichi sighed, suddenly appearing tired and as old as she looked.

"I thought so." She murmured, watching as two ANBU guards led the young genin away.

"Utatane-sama... how could you allow that!?" The younger kunoichi looked at the old woman with barely restrained anger. "We should have done something! This is inexcusable!"

"Do something?" Koharu raised an eyebrow sardonically. "And what, if I might ask?"

"Demotion... or... or a detention, a fine... _something_!" The woman's face twisted. "It is bad enough he behaves like he does, but-"

"Demotion? To what?" The old kunoichi snorted. "Sending an experienced, blooded and angry genin back to the academy, maybe? That's just begging for an accident. Fine? That boy has almost nothing - his income from missions would barely cover his living expenses if not for that medic girl of his." Koharu's eyes narrowed. "Arrest him? For what? For being loyal to his team? For being distraught that one of his teammates is dead and disgraced while another will never walk again? Tell me Shizuko-chan, are you perhaps _trying_ to create a missing-nin jinchuuriki with a grudge against Konoha?"

The kunoichi bit her lip, bowing her head with shame.

"...forgive me, Utatane-sama. I didn't think-"

"Yes, that seems to be the problem of your generation." Koharu snapped. "Keep on treating that boy like an enemy and once day he will become one, you foolish girl! No one asks you to adopt him or even like him, but thinking about the consequences of your own actions was required from Konoha shinobi the last time I checked!"

The two younger jounin fidgeted in their seats, avoiding the older kunoichi's eyes.

"This meeting is adjourned." The old woman said sourly. "Get out of my sight."

'Well Kanna, it is out of my hands.' She thought looking at the doors the orange clad genin walked out through. 'He's all yours now.'

She sat alone for a long moment in the courtroom, before standing up with ease and fluidity that belayed her age and walking out in a purposeful, steady gait. It wouldn't do to look unsure, after all. Not when she had a Hokage to convince.

'The things I do for this village...'

*

Now.

It was funny, Naruto decided. There were thousand and one things he wanted to ask her. Hell, he didn't know if he was going to virtually explode into chatter or brain her with something heavy once they found some nice, secluded spot for a talk, yet the moment they found one...

Naruto fumbled with the box, his fingers drawing a neatly rolled herbal cigarette on automatic. He tapped it over his wrist gently to let the herbs inside the off-gray tube settle - not that they needed to. Haku was almost obsessively precise rolling them, which was kind of a byproduct of being obsessively worried about his health. He tapped the cigarette a few times anyway. Then again for good measure.

Saya looked at the proceedings, her face thoughtful, and observed as he stuck the thin tube into his mouth, lighting it with a single seal.

Naruto took a long drag.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

...and chocked as Saya jumped up from her proper seiza screaming like a banshee.

"...what the FUCK?!" The blond ANBU wheezed, smoke puffing comically in broken gasps from his throat and nose.

"That silence got on my nerves." Saya said cheerfully. "I thought it'd be a good ice breaker."

"Are you trying to kill me, you psycho chick?!" The young man sputtered, hitting his chest several times.

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" She presented a shameless victory sign. "Saya-chan's brilliant idea saves the potential day's worth of uncomfortable silence yet again! Yay! Maybe I should patent it?"

"A day? Are you kidding me? It'd be less than an hour!" Naruto protested, scowling indignantly. "And about that 'uncomfortable silence' bit, _hell-O_? Whose fault is that, I wonder?"

"Those accusing words... they make Saya-chan sad!" She pointed a finger at him accusingly. "You midget bastard! Show some consideration for a lady, dammit!"

"Sorry, Haku's out on an errand." Naruto shrugged, causing the young woman's eyebrow to twitch violently. "And I am so not a midget."

"Well..." She looked at him for a long moment, before ruffling his hair with a grin. "You did grow a little."

"A little?" He huffed. "I am almost as tall as you, dammit!"

"Aww! You're _so cute_ when you're indignant!" The former kunoichi gushed, her arms once again turning into steel cords as she hugged him like an oversized plush toy.

"...hawa...?" Naruto's eyes bugged out and he started to writhe. "Shit...!" He freed his hand, a rather crumpled but still lit cigarette in it. "Watch it you psycho! I almost burned that fancy kimono of yours!"

"I've got more." She grinned "Burn all you want! Then I'll have my 'official Naruto hugging' dress done!" The young woman said gleefully. "And when I have it... I shall hug you with impunity! Mwahahahahahaha!"

"...so... kind of like you do now?" Naruto deadpanned, his voice muffled by the elegant finish of Saya's kimono's cleavage.

"More or less." She admitted with a nod.

"What the hell do you need an official hugging dress for that, then?"

"Ah come on, Naruchin!" Saya whined. "I always wanted to hatch some kind of master plan and laugh a villain laugh! Work with me here!"

"...do I have a choice?"

"No." She said without missing a beat.

"Wow." Naruto reflected, still face-full of Saya's not inconsiderable cleavage. "Now that is a deja vu."

"Huh." The girl, blinked, looking down at her captive. "You learned some new words?"

"Extensive recuperation periods make for a bored ninja." Naruto shrugged. "Mind letting me go now?"

"Yes." Saya said absently. "Hmm... your hair's longer. Cute!"

"To better Hari Jizo you with, honey." Naruto offered sarcastically.

"Hari wh- OI!" Saya let go of Naruto with surprise as the blond spikes turned into literal spikes, as sharp and solid as any sword she had seen. "Hey now! That's dirty!" The ex-kunoichi pouted.

"Heh." Naruto grinned. "Jiraiya-made. Tsunade-taught. Naruto-improved. Like it?"

"I hate it." She grinned in return. "But you're so teaching me that!"

"Jealous much?" Naruto said smugly.

"Hell yeah!" She nodded sagely. "Do you know how much time it'd save me on getting my hair done in the mornings? Man, aunty's gonna FREAK!" The young woman rubbed her hands gleefully.

The blond stared at his friend incredulously for a long moment, before laughing.

"God, Saya...!" He said, catching his breath. "I missed you, you psycho chick!"

"Missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me!" She sing-songed gleefully.

"I would, but then my girlfriend would probably rip my guts out with a spoon." Naruto chuckled, lighting another cigarette. "If I was lucky."

"Nah." Saya shrugged, waving her hand dismissively. "She'd investigate if I screwed up the kiss, and if I did, then she'd rip my guts out with a spoon and then serve my liver to you for supper with fava beans and some chianti. Haku's inventive like that."

"For the record - not amusing." Naruto winced. "Not fun at all. I am not talking about Haku, though, but about Hana."

The ex-kunoichi's eyebrows rose slowly.

"Trust me, it's complicated." Naruto winced.

"Oh don't worry, don't worry." Saya smirked. "I'll enjoy forcing the sordid details out of you immensely, you little pervert."

"Yeah, I figured that you might." He sighed, before smiling. "God... it's been along time... it is good to see you, Saya."

"It's good to see you too, Naruto." She smiled, ruffling his hair, letting her palm linger. "Hmm... you really became tall. Well, not 'tall' tall, but... taller. Bigger." She observed him critically, before her eyes softened. "Is it-"

"Yeah. Don't worry." he cut her question before she had a cahnce to word it. "It was bound to happen."

"Still, Naruto..." Her hands clenched as she hung her head with shame. "If we would-"

"Wouldda, shoudda, couldda... DIDN'T!" The blond snapped. "Get over it, dammit! I _did_!" He took a long drag out of his cigarette. "The page's written, the deed's done. Fuck it, I'm not gonna cry about it."

"...if you say so." She murmured, her hand hesitantly touching the sword he laid off to the side. "That's... Jougen, isn't it?"

"Yeah." The jinchuuriki exhaled a large cloud of smoke, before immediately taking another long, deep drag right away. "After all that mess, Hayate and Ritsuko gave it to me."

"Made quite a scene out of it, from what I heard." Saya smiled sadly.

"They tried - they were about the only ones that believed me." Naruto slumped, staring at the sword for a long moment. "I... didn't have many friends after all that. Being the only present survivor was bad enough, but the ruling of the tribunal and the 'demon' bit... well, you know how it gets. Kakashi got off scott free, of course." Naruto's hands clenched and Saya's eyes darkened. "He was their precious Copycat. The prodigy, the goddamn Yondaime's fucking prized apprentice - _of course_ he could do no wrong!"

The young woman closed her arms around her friend, causing the sudden bout of old fury to abate slightly.

"I know, Naruto." She murmured, rocking him slightly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you..."

"Don't." He sighed, letting his head rest on her shoulder. "I was... glad you weren't there." Her arms tensed. "Not like that. I... you didn't need to have all that shit with... that leg and all." Naruto said lamely. "I am used to that stuff, so not like much changed, right? I- OW!" The blond reeled form a strong punch that caused his face to get to know the floor rather intimately.

"You... you blind, moronic, half-witted, arrogant...!" Saya's usually bright and cheerful eyes were dark, sparks of fury dancing in them, even though her face was cold and expressionless. "Do you think you are so noble, so considerate? Do you even bother to stop and think about other people's feelings before you go and play some fucking 'tragic hero'?!"

Naruto's eyes widened before another punch caused his head to spin.

"You moron!" Saya snarled, her hand cocked back again, and Naruto braced himself for yet another punch, only to freeze as Saya's strong arms embraced him gently. "You stupid, stupid midget moron..." She whispered. "We're the 'unlucky thirteen', remember? We take care of ourselves. If we won't, who will?"

"Yeah..." Naruto closed his eyes, allowing himself to sink into Saya's warm embrace. "Yeah..."

They sat there for a while, not saying a word, nor moving away from each other.

"You are using this as an excuse to hug me, aren't you?" He asked finally.

"Yep." Saya nodded cheerfully.

"Thought so." The jinchuuriki murmured.

"And if you use that Hari Jizo on me I'll be annoyed, Naruto-kun." The ex-kunoichi smiled sunnily. "Very much so. Just so you know."

"Ah." Naruto's hair slackened, returning to its usual length.

"Now isn't that better?" She sighed happily.

"For who?" Naruto muttered with a scowl.

"Awww!" Saya patted Naruto's hair with a coo.

"Stop that!" The ANBU huffed. "It's annoying!"

"Ah, you know you love me anyway." Saya smiled sweetly, her arms tightening around her friend. "Don't you?"

"....yes?" Naruto hazarded. Stupid he occasionally was, suicidal he was not.

"Good man!" The kunoichi's smile relaxed as she let him go.

Naruto had 'finally' on a tip of his tongue, but then noticed that Saya's arms were still close by and three years or no, she was still as goddamn freakishly strong as she used to be. He was rash, but ANBU did teach him not to fight overwhelming odds. Sort of.

"I never thought you the type to use a sword, a katana even less." She said out of the blue.

"....huh?" Naruto blinked.

"Jougen. You're using it." Saya grabbed his hand gently, her finger tracing his callouses, worn from countless weapons that he held every day. "Given how you heal, such thick callouses... a weapon user?"

"Still sharp as ever, huh?" Naruto smiled.

"I always pegged you as a jutsu type. What with that chakra capacity and the fox and all." The woman raised an eyebrow, letting go of his hand. "What happened?"

"People change. Things change." Naruto shrugged, looking at his hands speculatively. "Don't get me wrong - I still use jutsu. I have a shitload of them but there is nothing quite like some good steel when you want to get the job done right."

"Oh dear." Saya sighed theatrically. "I'm gone for a few years and look at you, you're becoming Kazuya lite. That nice, sensible taijutsu I arranged for you betrayed for the slutty gleam and shine of metal." The woman shook her head sadly. "Where, oh where have I gone wrong with you?"

"Hey, don't go dissin' the blades, woman!" Naruto scowled. "My weapons are awesome! And my taijutsu is doing all right."

"All right?" Saya said incredulously "Naruto, you hit like a girl! Like an anemic, court-bred, willowy little thing fated to die tragically in a very courtly manner out of 'broken heart' or something equally idiotic!"

"Well pardon me for not using granite blocks for punching bags!" The jinchuuriki rolled his eyes with exasperation.

"And what do you have against granite anyway?" Saya protested. "It is one of the coolest, most sensible materials to train with, ever!"

"Sensible?" He stared at his previous teammate. "Sensible?!"

"What? It is!" She said with indignation. "It is solid, meaning it doesn't break as easily as wood. It is dense, so you don't need to reposition it every few swings, it breaks neatly instead of chipping, there is less dust to deal with, it is cheap, it is coarse so your hits don't slide all over and it is good for the skin and it comes in a variety of pretty colors! It is _awesome_! What's not to like about granite?"

"I rest my case." Naruto deadpanned.

"There is no pleasing some people! Really!" Saya huffed. "Why is everybody discriminating granite?"

"Because we're not nuts enough to use it as punching bags?" The ANBU snarked. "Well, maybe aside from Gai. He just might. He's crazy enough."

"Well, Maito-san at least doesn't punch like an anemic girl." Saya pointed out sweetly. "Should I buy you a dress, put some ribbons in your hair and take you dancing?" Saya paused, her eyes widening as Naruto's skin seemed to stretch slightly, before flowing, the hair lengthening and previously loose shirt stretching to accommodate a very generous bust pushing the limits of decency.

"Why, be my guest." The blonde said, her clear, smoky voice teasing. "It's been ages since someone took little ole me out for some fun."

Saya stared for a long moment, before carefully poking Naruto's breast.

It was solid.

She poked it again, before grabbing it gently.

It was not only solid, but quite perky and firm - not saggy in the slightest. Any woman would kill to have a pair like these, Saya would bet on it. She would.

"Oh, you tease!" Naruto giggled.

"...ha...?" Saya blinked owlishly. "That... isn't Oiroke...?"

It was Naruto's turn to blink.

"Um, yes it is?" She said with confusion.

"....huh?" The ex-kunoichi stared, before freezing. "Wait... that means each time you did... Oiroke..." She trailed off. "Naruto.. you... you...!"

"...ack!" The blonde cringed.

"You had such an awesome technique and never told me?!" Saya pointed at her accusingly. "We could have gone shopping together, we could have gone for ice cream or broken some guys' heads or do sleepovers and all kinds of neat stuff and you never told me?! How could you?!"

"...huh?" The now-bombshell blinked in confusion.

"Aww! Even you confusion is so cute!" Saya squealed, grabbing the blonde into a tight embrace, mashing Naruto's face into her cleavage. "Awwwww!"

The doors slid open.

"Naruto-sama, is there-" Haku paused, staring at the two women in a rather suggestive embrace, while Saya still gushed with a grin.

Naruto sighed.

"This can't get any-"

"Hey, Haku, what about din...ner..." Hana trailed off, freezing in the doorway. "...is there something I should know about, _darling_?" She growled the world with a sugary sweet smile as her hand clenched on door with a crack of wood resounding through the room.

Naruto slumped.

"Who am I kidding?" He muttered.

"...wait a minute..." The Inuzuka woman paused, her eyes widening. "...what the _hell_ are _you_ doing here?!" She pointed at Saya accusingly.

"Hey, it's Inuzuka-san!" Saya ceased her gushing, waving to Hana with her arm. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going away to live with your boyfriend."

"This _is_ my boyfriend!" Hana snapped, pointing at Naruto.

"...she is?" Saya scratched her head.

"Yes, she is!" Hana snapped. "I mean, he is. When he isn't a she and is a he, that is."

"So right now she isn't." Saya said with a shrug. "So Saya-chan can hug all she wants, no?"

"If I could just-" Naruto started carefully.

"You! Stay silent!" Hana pointed at him. "You!" She pointed at Saya. "Hands of my man. Woman. Whatever! I was here first!"

"Well, technically..." Haku frowned thoughtfully.

"Aaah! Haku-chan!" Saya squealed. "Kyaaa! So _cute_!"

Haku blinked, finding herself in a tight, familiar hug.

"...hello, Saya-san."

Hana's eyebrow twitched.

"What part of 'hands off' don't you understand you noble twit?" She hissed.

Naruto slumped, palming her face.

"Kami? For the record? I hate you all very much right now." The buxom blonde said with resignation.

*

"The first thing you should understand is that there is no art to what I am going to teach you." A single coin jumped over the sniper's knuckles, drawing Ino's attention despite her best wishes. "There is no art to it, there is no metaphysical mumbo jumbo or deeper philosophy." The coin jerked once again, only to vanish.

Ino blinked.

"And I bet you're wondering where the coin is now, aren't you?" Kyo grinned. "Care to guess?"

"Well... it is like one of those magic tricks, so..." The blonde looked at the man for a long moment, before pointing at his hands. "Sleeve or maybe even in your hand. Come on, that's too simple!"

"Yeah." Kyo punched the tree they were sitting under, causing Ino to jerk as something hard but light hit her head. "Yeah it is. And that's precisely why it works."

The blonde scowled, darting her head to look at the branches above them.

"How did you do that?" She muttered. "You didn't even look and you could throw it just enough to lodge it between the branches..."

"First, I was the one choosing the time and the place. Second..." Kyo chuckled, juggling few of coins deftly. "Time and practice. A lot of practice." The coins vanished again. "That's what it all comes to, in the nutshell. However, had we the time for it, the one sitting here would be Yashiro, before her pretty, sexy, miraculous hands would beat into you the finer aspects from that treasure trove of martial arts she possesses. Instead, you are getting me - in other words, dirty, low-brow, basic and pretty much so back alley that it would leave the artful sensibilities of Hyuuga sneering and the highborn noses of Uchiha wrinkling in disgust. Welcome, my dear, succulent, loli-morsel to my humble abode. Don't mind the dirt - you'll be learning to love it soon enough."

Ino stared at the unshaven man for a long moment, before blinking once.

"Are you always this... wordy?" She said finally.

"I get worse when I am drunk." The 'true sniper' said cheerfully. "My lovely bird agreed to a date with me just to shut me up. That's pretty much the only reason she kissed me, too. It was glorious, let me tell you!"

"Yeah. I bet." Ino deadpanned.

"Anyway, as much as I'd love to talk about the lovely, peerless, sexy and delightful example of womanhood that is the love of my life, it is time to get to brass tacks." Kyo raised his index finger pointedly. "First and foremost - whatever works. It doesn't mean how silly, honorless or stupid it is - if it works, that's all the recommendation you need. Remember it, know it, live by it - just so you won't have to die because of it."

The young kunoichi nodded.

"And the second?"

"Did I even say there will be a second?" Kyo asked with a smirk.

"Well, you did say 'first'." Ino frowned.

"I also said 'whatever works' and that makes most of the potential rules afterwards pointless, doesn't it?" The true sniper shrugged.

The blonde glared at the older man, who leaned on the tree as if he was sitting in a bar or on a couch instead of training a future ANBU. She had to admit that Sagato Kyo looked unlike any ANBU she could imagine. Hell, the guy looked unlike a ninja! He was a lazy, laid-back and messy, frequently sporting a five o' clock shadow.

Even his choice of clothes - worn cargo pants and stretched out turtleneck that had its best days far behind it - as well as lack of anything resembling ninja tools on his person made him look like one of those slackers spending their time in bars trying to score with a waitress and failing miserably.

Needless to say, her vision of ANBU as disciplined, serious to the core soldiers was cut by Haku, broken by Naruto, but utterly, irreparably mangled by Kyo. At least his girlfriend, slutty pervert that she was, had an aura of danger going for her while Tenrou was just plain creeping Ino out. Kyo was... well, Kyo.

The fact that the man was also one of top Konoha assassins and the best long distance expert in the village bar none... well, that was an eye opener. Sort of like Haku, only less jarring.

Ino winced.

Her body still protested to the wringer the medic put it through on daily basis. At least the food was good...

The kunoichi's stomach growled.

She hung her head, blushing at Kyo's bewildered expression.

'What am, a... a dog or something?! I ate just an hour ago!'

It was embarrassing - Ino felt as if she was trained by the use of doggy treats. And, what's worse, it was working!

"Hey now." The blonde blinked as an acorn bounced off of her head. "I hate to go old and wise master on you princess, but focus on here and now, would you? I'll buy you a dinner afterwards. Or... we could drop by Naruto's and mooch off of him, waddaya say? Eating Haku's cooking every day... lucky bastard!" The ANBU chuckled.

Ino's eyebrow twitched.

"I think I'll pass, sempai." She said sweetly.

"Oh no, we can't have that. Ninja lives by his body." He frowned. "Admittedly, I would be perfectly happy with Yashiro-chan's scrumptious body, but that's just me. Anyway - ninja lives by his body which lives by its stomach. A rich and balanced diet is an important part of shinobi's daily life." He nodded sagely. "Kanna-chan says so, which means it is the Word of God. Admittedly, the god is an irritable goth loli from hell, but what can you do?" He shrugged philosophically. "Therefore any such moronic things like diets or some such are bad, evil and are to be killed with prejudice and fire."

"So ANBU have to eat their veggies like good boys and girls?" Ino snarked.

"Preeecisely!" Kyo grinned, pointing at Ino. "Besides, it is more important than you think." He said seriously. "Balanced diet is important in training and in recovery, especially given we can eat irregularly or even outright starve during some field operations. Besides, increased training and salads... well, you need the well-fed body for that."

"'Salads'?" The blonde kunoichi blinked.

"Herbs, medicines, drugs, chakra enhancers, passive and active anti-toxins... you know, the stuff."

Ino froze, her eyes widening.

"...what?" She whispered with horror. "You mean you are.. you are feeding me steroids?!"

"Not steroids - herbs." The true sniper sighed. "But, did you really think you get to keep the regimen you have on three meals a day and exercise alone? What are you, stupid?"

"But-!"

"Oh stop fretting, not like you didn't get some of that before! Hell, you use some of them on daily basis!" Kyo snorted. "Chakra restoratives, blood pills - rings any bells?"

"Well, yes but-"

"Listen, as long as you keep the regime? It is not only harmless, but necessary." The ANBU rolled his eyes. "It helps in the increase of muscle mass, allows for smoother chakra circulation, helps in the increase of stamina... girl, you are undergoing a rapid, exhausting and murderous regime that your body isn't capable of going through without some help right now. It is that simple." He sighed, laying his hand on the distressed girl's arm.

"You don't need to worry - Haku is really good and you are under constant watch. The process is a reasonably safe, proven method and we all went through it in basic training, so it isn't some cooky attempt to create a super soldier or anything - it is merely there to help the natural processes, that's it. If anything, you should be happy because it will make sure you never get pimples or anything like that, your average health level will get a boost and the bit of hormone jump and stuff will pay off nicely in puberty."

The blonde blinked, perking up slightly.

"Really?" She asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." The true sniper chuckled, patting Ino's head. "So be a good girl, exercise and eat your veggies. And remember to drink a lot of milk too and it's gonna pay off. Big time." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You pervert!" Ino's face went scarlet, but she smiled none the less.

"Well, now that we have that little tidbit of drama out of the way, let me familiarize you with disgustingly artless yet oh so very utilitarian method of removing obstacles."

Kyo moved his open hand slightly, grabbing a kunai that he fished out of his sleeve - how Ino had no idea since she couldn't see anything resembling any kind of holster.

"First off, you are smaller, shorter, lighter and weaker. That's good - even experienced ninja tend to lower their guard that tiny bit because of it. That or become all that more guarded smelling a set-up but that can work to your advantage as well - making them watch left while you go right being the age old part of shinobi lore and all that." The sniper grinned.

"Konoha's academy taijutsu is rather generic - that is actually its strength since it is a nice platform to build on and develop further." The older man shifted his position slightly, the kunai vanishing out of his hand causing Ino to absently wonder how the hell did he do it yet again. "But it has one critical flaw - it is based on the principles of Gouken, meaning that for all of its simplicity it favors power. That is not exactly your forte and you so far lack the overwhelming advantage of speed to make up for it."

Ino frowned unhappily, opening her mouth, only to halt as Kyo raised his hand placatingly.

"Whatever you might think, that is actually an advantage during learning - you lack several bad habits that sometimes kill our shinobi and you have decent basics to build on. Now, as you lack strength, speed and technique, you will need to build all of it and add a little extra.

"Meaning?" Ino leaned forward, intrigued despite her apprehension.

"Meaning fighting meaner, dirtier and making a frequent use of such things like backstabbing, surprise and ability to turn anything and everything around you to your advantage."

"So does mean I'll learn how to kill people with a teacup or something?" Ino asked sarcastically.

"Teacups make for excellent knives when broken, good projectiles when whole or fractured for sharpness and ideal distractions when full of hot tea and flushed right into someone's face." The ANBU riposted without missing a beat.

Ino blinked a few times.

"You're serious." She said finally.

"Ino my dear pumpkin, three months ago our team spent several weeks trying to kill a daimyo without rising suspicions or provoking a war. I did it by using a peanut." Kyo deadpanned. "Teacups have nothing on that. Whatever works, remember?"

"...a peanut?" Ino gazed at her instructor incredulously.

"It was a very heroic ANBU peanut." The sniper nodded solemnly. "It made us proud."

The blonde stared at the older man for a long moment before snorting.

"Oh come on!" She complained. "I mean, teacups I can buy, sort of, but a peanut? How in the world could you kill a man with a tiny, crunchy peanut?!"

"A combination of prodigious accuracy, two hot kunoichi to act as dancers to distract the security, a rather loud party and one open mouth of a person allergic to peanuts and pepper, that said peanut was coated in and choking on it to the death." Kyo said proudly. "Trust me, it was _beautiful_."

Ino blinked owlishly, at a loss for words.

"Now, let's get to the brass tacks." The sniper pulled out a scroll from one of his pockets, rolling it open on the grass. "First thing you should know that human body has a lot of very weak points. For example golgi organs, like golgi tendons on elbows." He pointed at a marked spot on the scroll.

"It doesn't matter how tough or badass you are - if you are hit there? It both hurts like a bitch and your hand will jerk involuntary. No ifs, no buts, no maybes - it will. There are dozens such points on the body, the trick is how to use them right - ask Haku later to instruct you in that." Kyo tapped the scroll pointedly.

"We will focus on how to take advantage of them in the most efficient manner possible. It is not exactly the most elegant of ways to fight but trust me - it is very efficient, especially with something like this." He opened his palm, showing Ino a sort of a short senbon with a ring in a middle and two pointed tips at the end, causing Ino's eyes to widen.

While it looked simple and easily concealable, if used in the manner the older ninja was describing...

She winced slightly, rubbing her elbow with a small shudder.

"In a pinch you can use a stick, a pencil or your own fingers once you've trained enough - there is a whole martial art built around that, in fact." Kyo twirled the strange weapon in his hands deftly. "But for now, let's stick to basics. Later on I'll show you how to throw stuff from a concealed stance using your wrist rather than telegraphing your intent and direction for all around to see and some tricks that just might save your life as well as put a quick end to your targets in a quick, efficient manner. You game?"

Ino nodded slowly.

"Cool." The ANBU smiled. "So, the first lesson is punching. The theme is 'any time, any place'."

*

Konoha, for a village of its size, had a lot of hospitals. It came with a territory - injuries, whether from missions or training, were part of the daily life for shinobi. Even for a ninja village however, the number of medic nin and medical institutions as a whole was surprisingly high. It was the legacy of the Tsunade of the Sannin that was, according to some, greater than any of her contributions on the field of battle combined.

Second Konoha Hospital was, contrary to the First Konoha Hospital, mainly used by ninja. Mainly, but not exclusively - both institutions treated ninja and civilian alike, though the Second did the bulk on the work of ninja for reasons lost to history for the most of Konoha's citizens. The Third and Fourth were specialist hospitals, while the rest of medical duties was taken by several small but well equipped clinics that took care of the day-to-day, mundane affairs - shinobi and civilian alike.

There is, however, a fifth hospital in Konoha. While it is smaller than any of its compatriots it still should by all rights be called one, but isn't. In fact, it isn't called anything because it doesn't have an official name. It doesn't have a number or even an address either. At least not an address any civilian and the vast majority of ninja would know.

Those who know of it don't even call it a hospital - it is instead called The Garden. Why is it named so no one exactly knows, but the name stuck for years and those who know of it use that moniker almost exclusively.

The Garden is special - it deals in special cases, in special patients and uses special methods. Uchiha Sasuke would no doubt love it. Orochimaru certainly did, even if he never got permission to delve deeper into its secrets. Sometimes Sarutobi regretted that fact - sometimes he thinks that maybe, just maybe it would have allowed Orochimaru to satisfy his scientific curiosity in a more... wholesome way.

Had Tsunade, the former director of The Garden, ever learned of Sarutobi's sentiment, she just might have killed him - of that Hijikata Tenrou was sure. Just as she was sure Sartuobi would never voice it ever again. One scar was enough. Or so she hoped, at least.

The ANBU swordmistress stood in the room - painted in greens and rusty bronzes instead of traditional whites - taking in the... familiar atmosphere without any degree of familiarity whatsoever. The rooms were the same, but the feeling was... odd. Alien. It was hard to believe she used to all but live here but six years ago.

To her, it felt like a lifetime.

A mirthless grin twisted her lips.

'A lifetime indeed.'

"So?"

Inoichi's voice wasn't even grim - merely resigned and tired. She didn't blame the man, he had tried and pushed beyond what most people thought sensible or probable. Was it guilt, determination, fear? Maybe all of the above? Tenrou didn't want to speculate. Not now, not here. Especially not here.

She peered at the bed - this one actually hospital white for a change, foregoing the extravagant dichotomy of The Garden for practicality - and the violet-haired, pale woman laying on it. The seal on her brow all but sang to her senses and memory.

A part of her wanted to go out the doors and never come back, while another wanted to prod it and take a closer, more intimate look, see the bindings of the ethereal knots that turned the mind against itself in a misunderstood grab for power and... something. Something even she couldn't understand - the seal was brilliant but undeniably a quite mad bit of the art. She didn't even want to speculate on its creator - she left that dubious honor to Inoichi. It was his clan's cross to bear, after all, and she left such things behind her long ago.

"I cannot help her." She said simply.

"You helped Naruto." The blond Yamanaka clan's head voice wasn't accusing or even hopeful - just tired. It was exhaustion of a man who ran out of options and knew the search was fruitless to begin with, but did it anyway hoping for the best. She knew that tone very well. Intimately so. If there was one thing she always hated, past, present and future, it was that.

"Naruto was a special case. His was..." The swordmistress seemed to be at loss for words for a long moment, before she finally finished awkwardly. "...different. This one..." Her billowy sleeve touched Murasaki Rei's brow gently, softly. The girl was a stranger but she was Team 4 - and Team 4 was never alone. "I can't even begin to speculate."

The older man slumped, sliding on a nearby chair.

" Damn it... what am I supposed to do?" He said softly, holding his head in his hands. "Tenrou, please... isn't there anything you can-?"

"No." The swordmistress said sadly, but with blunt honesty. "Not even my knowledge can help here. It never could to begin with."

"You talked to him, though." Inoichi murmured. "When he was in coma he said he... 'heard' you."

"Yes. But there is certain..." her lips twisted into a sardonic smile, a rarity nowadays. She blamed this place - it held far too many memories for her peace of mind, "kinship between us. Maybe that helped, I can't know for sure."

"I was afraid of that." The blond muttered, rubbing his bloodshot eyes. "I did such extensive studies since then... dammit, I never thought I'd run out of options so fast!"

"Not all of them." Tenrou said calmly, earning herself a glare from the older man.

"No!" He growled. "That... _woman_," he spat the words as one would a vile curse, "should never be allowed to walk free ever again! Out of the question!"

"Her knowledge of the Gyakusou seal is unrivaled though." The sword mistress pointed out softly.

"Yes, because she used one to rape an innocent child's mind with it!" Inoichi snarled. "A person like that..." The blond's hands clenched in impotent fury. "I am supposed to trust that monster?! Are you _insane_?!"

Tenrou's face, her eyes covered by her hair almost completely as always, turned to Inoichi without a word, causing the older man to flinch and look away.

"...forgive me." He murmured in a subdued tone. "But that... _woman_... The... _things_ she did... the shame she forced onto my family alone..."

"Bear your shame as you will." Tenrou said calmly. "Her fate, however, is not for you to decide."

"...I know." The blond slumped bonelessly. "Gods help me, I know that very well..." He sat on his chair for a long time, staring blankly forward. "It is really the only option, isn't it?"

Tenrou remained silent, merely looking at Rei's pale face marred by the seal.

"...dammit." Inoichi murmured softly, pinching the bridge of his nose with resignation, before punching the wall hard enough to leave cracks in the solid concrete. "_I hate that seal._" He said slowly. "I hate it in a way that I _never_ hated anything in my life save _one. single. person._ Now I have to use one to counteract the other and I can't decide which is worse - the disease or the cure."

The swordmistress touched the comatose girl's brow one, last time before turning on her heel and walking to the exit in silence.

"You are going to petition Kanna?" It was more of a statement than a question.

Ternrou nodded, not missing a step.

"And what the hell am I supposed to say to Naruto?" The Yamanaka Clan head asked with frustration.

The kunoichi shrugged, walking out without a word.

Inoichi leaned back in his chair, staring at the comatose ANBU for a long moment.

"Perfect." He sighed, before getting up and following his companion. "Just fucking _perfect_."

Some days it really didn't pay to get out of bed.

*

TBC...

*

Glossary:

Tanigakure: village hidden in the valley

Jougen: crescent moon

*

To those who complained I abandon my old stories – here you go. I said it before and I say it again – unless I say so, none of my stories are abandoned and all are being worked on, one way or another. The gap between the updates doesn't mean a thing.

No, Tenrou isn't OOC – there are reasons why she is the way she is and they will be elaborated on as the story progressess, as will her connection to Naruto and Naruto's past in general. To those complaining I bash Kakashi in this, remember it is a story told from Naruto's view point and as shown he wasn't all that rational when this happened. Not to say Kakashi didn't fuck up, but it wasn't nearly as clear cut as Naruto wants to see it. It will all be explained, so have some patience.

The weapon Kyo shows Ino is a variant of Emei daggers, also called Emei piercers or thorns and it is a real and rather nasty weapon used in several styles of chinese martial arts.


End file.
